The Verge

Microsoft is bringing its infamous Clippy character back to life as an emoji in Office. After a successful campaign to get some Twitter and Instagram likes, Clippy will now replace the paperclip emoji that exists across Windows, Office, Microsoft Teams, and other Microsoft 365 products. It’s part of a bigger update that will see 1,800 emoji in Microsoft 365 updated with 3D designs and the company’s Fluent Design language.Clippy is the star of the show, with 3D emoji that have been redesigned to add a lot more personality. “I grew up using Clippy, and it just seemed like a fun little Easter egg,” says Claire Anderson, Microsoft’s official “Emoji-ologist,” in an interview with The Verge. “We just all imagined that delight when you put the... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge An Ugly Truth tracks the last five years of Facebook scandals Continue reading…

Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images Candace Parker has become the first WNBA player to appear on the cover of an NBA 2K game. The Chicago Sky forward, a six-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA MVP, and 2016 WNBA Finals MVP, is featured on the cover of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition of NBA 2K22, which will be released on September 10th.“I grew up a video game fanatic, that’s what I did, to the point where my brothers would give me the fake controller when I was younger where I think I was playing and I wasn’t,” Parker tells ESPN. “All I wanted to do was just be like them. As a kid growing up, you dream of having your own shoe and dream of being in a video game. Those are an athlete as a kid’s dreams. To be able to experience that, I don’t take it lightly.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is adding support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to two of its Fire TV Edition TVs in a free update, the company announced on Wednesday. Both the 2020 Toshiba 4K UHD Smart Fire TV with Dolby Vision and the 2020 Insignia 4K UHD Smart TV will receive the features, before they arrive on Amazon’s less expensive Fire TV sticks and set-top boxes.On these specific TV sets, AirPlay 2 should function the same on Apple’s own Apple TV, allowing you to send audio and video from your phone, tablet, or computer to the big screen and control playback from your device. Integrating with HomeKit, Apple’s smart home ecosystem, requires a little extra legwork: you’ll have to enable HomeKit in your TV’s settings under Display & Sounds > AirPlay & HomeKit... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A report this spring from The Information said that Netflix was seeking an executive to lead its push into gaming, with an eye toward offering an Apple Arcade or Xbox Game Pass-like subscription bundle. Now, as first reported by Bloomberg, the streaming company has hired Mike Verdu as its vice president of game development reporting to COO Greg Peters. A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the hire to The Verge.According to Bloomberg, Netflix could offer games right next to its other streaming content “within the next year” listed as a new genre just like documentaries or anything else, without charging extra for the experience.Verdu is a former exec who has experience with mobile gaming companies like Zynga, ran EA Mobile for a year, and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) reported on Tuesday that SolarWinds software was attacked with a zero-day exploit by a group of hackers it calls “DEV-0322.” The hackers were focused on SolarWinds’ Serv-U FTP software, with the presumed goal of accessing the company’s clients in the US defense industry.The zero-day attack was first spotted in a routine Microsoft 365 Defender scan. The software noticed an “anomalous malicious process” that Microsoft explains in more detail in its blog, but it seems the hackers were attempting to make themselves Serv-U administrators, among other suspicious activity.Update Serv-U as soon as possibleSolarWinds reported the zero-day exploit on Friday, July 9th, explaining that all of the... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge The OnePlus 9 Pro went on sale on April 2nd, but to date, the $969 base model, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, hasn’t been available to actually buy in North America. The company had told Android Police on April 3rd that the base version was still on the way, but now, according to a new statement given to Android Police, it actually won’t make its way to the US or Canada due to “unforeseen supply constraints.”Here’s the full statement, from Android Police:

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge General Motors said Wednesday that two recent Bolt EV fires happened in vehicles that had already received the fix meant to prevent the battery pack from igniting, raising new questions about the recall announced last year. In the meantime, the automaker is warning owners of 2017-2019 model year Bolts not to charge the electric cars overnight, and to park them outside in case they catch fire.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the same warning to owners late Wednesday, too. The safety agency said is still investigating the problem, that it’s looking into the two new fires, and said owners can enter their VIN number here to check to see if their Bolt is included in the recall.GM recalled nearly 69,000 Bolt EVs in... Continue reading…

Image: Plex Plex, the popular build-your-own streaming service, has added 15 new channels to its ad-supported streaming offering for free TV.All of the new channels available on Plex’s free Live TV feed arrive on the service today, and most will be available globally (though a spokesperson told The Verge that some are available in Latin America or the US only). Plex originally launched the free TV feature last year as a collection of pre-programmed, continuous channels rather than traditional over-the-air streams. So it’s not quite live TV, but it does offer a similar linear experience if you’re just looking to throw something on.Of these new channels, some notable additions include MMA TV, USA Today, USA Today Sportswire, and the Tribeca Channel.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Until now, using WhatsApp web on your desktop or any other device has required having a phone that’s powered on and connected, but a new beta test is trying out support for multiple devices without needing a phone in the mix. In a June interview, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart and his boss, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, commented on the technical challenge of maintaining end-to-end encryption. With a blog post today, Cathcart explains more about what has been done behind the scenes to maintain security. Image: Facebook WhatsApp’s message architecture. As the image comparing the legacy and new systems (above) tries to explain, previously, a user’s phone managed the key determining their identity and ability to... Continue reading…

Facebook’s prototype brain-computer interface headset. | Image: Facebook Reality Labs A Facebook-backed initiative aiming to let people type by thinking has concluded with new findings published today.Project Steno was a multi-year collaboration between Facebook and the University of California San Francisco’s Chang Lab, aiming to create a system that translates brain activity into words. A new research paper, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, shows potential for implementing the technology for people with speech impairments.But alongside the research, Facebook made clear it is backing off the idea of a commercial head-mounted brain-reading device, and building out wrist-worn interfaces instead. The new research has no clear applicability for a mass-market tech product, and in a press release, Facebook... Continue reading…

YouTube now supports creating clips from live streams. | Image: YouTube YouTube is adding a trio of new features for live-streaming today that are all standbys for streamers on Twitch. Streamers will now be able to limit their chats to subscribers only, they’ll be able to create polls inside of their chats, and they and their viewers will now be able to create clips from popular gaming streams.These features have been around for a while on Twitch, and they’re all important tools to let streamers engage with their community. Limiting chats to subscribers only can help as a moderation tool by weeding out people who are just popping by, and it gives streamers another tool to encourage their viewers to start paying. And polls are useful for engaging with the often-chaotic chatrooms, giving streamers a simple... Continue reading…

Apple has released its third developer betas for the upcoming iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, and they bring some much-needed fixes to Safari — namely, undoing some of the more controversial changes introduced in the earlier betas. For macOS, that means a normal tab bar that goes back to the previous design, while iOS is getting a more consistent design when it comes to the URL bar.iOS 15 is still sticking with its new tab view and the moved URL bar on the bottom of the display, but the latest beta docked it there permanently, instead of bouncing it to the top of the screen when you selected it. Apple’s also added a new refresh option to the pop-over menu when you tap and hold the URL bar. Together, the changes help make the new design a... Continue reading…

Wata Games, the company that graded the recent record-breaking copies of The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario 64, has been acquired by Collectors Universe, which grades coins, trading cards, and other collectibles and memorabilia. The purchase signals video games’ growing prominence in the world of collectibles, which has seen significant interest recently due to the skyrocketing value of things like Pokémon cards.“Collectibles across categories, including trading cards and sports memorabilia, are now firmly considered an alternative investment class by both hobbyists and investors,” said Nat Turner, executive chair of Collectors Universe, in a press release. “With those categories seeing a stratospheric rise recently, we’ve identified... Continue reading…

How Half-Life and Deus Ex laid the foundation for a Wikipedia-style murder mystery game Continue reading…

Microsoft is threatening to bring back its annoying loveable Clippy character. The software giant claims it will replace the paperclip emoji in Microsoft Office with Clippy if the tweet below gets 20,000 likes. The tweet has already surpassed that number, so it seems Clippy could be about to return as a more innocent emoji — but Microsoft is being coy about what might happen next.Born in Office 97, Clippy originally appeared as an assistant to offer help and tips for using Microsoft Office. You either loved or hated its Groucho eyebrows and persistence, and Microsoft eventually killed off Clippy in Office XP in 2001.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon toyed with yet another way of ingratiating itself into the lives of you and your family through an Alexa-enabled wearable for kids, Bloomberg reports. The device was considered for Amazon’s 2020 product roadmap, according to documents Bloomberg viewed, and it would have added to the company’s growing stable of kid-focused tech products.The $99 wearable, codenamed “Seeker,” would reportedly feature GPS, voice activation (presumably for some kind of Alexa features), and be targeted for children ages four to 12. The finer details of the physical design of the device seem like they were still up in the air. Bloomberg writes the wearable could have come as a clip, keychain, or wristband. The goal seemed to be delivering exclusive A... Continue reading…

The company is partnering with Boingo to deploy 5G Plus in parts of US airports. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge AT&T has announced a partnership with Boingo Wireless to bring its fast mmWave 5G — which it calls 5G Plus — to more US airports, with a goal of seven by the end of the year and 25 by the end of 2022. That’s counting its first deployment in Tampa International Airport earlier this year. There’s a little bit of a catch, though; travelers will only find 5G Plus in certain areas of the airport, like major gates and concessions areas. Still, it’s one place where range-limited but powerful mmWave might actually make sense. When else do you need to download an entire movie while you wait for your latte?Boingo is known for providing Wi-Fi to air travelers, but what AT&T is deploying isn’t 5G-branded Wi-Fi. Any AT&T subscriber with the right... Continue reading…

Photo: Marvel Studios Stay up to date with the trickster god Continue reading…

Photo: Marvel Studios The most standalone MCU series yet Continue reading…

Twitter just rolled out Fleets to everyone in November. | Twitter Say goodbye to Fleets, the row of fullscreen tweets at the top of the Twitter timeline that expire after 24 hours. The ephemeral tweet format is shutting down due to low usage after launching widely just eight months ago.Starting on August 3rd, users will instead just see active Spaces — Twitter’s live audio chat rooms — at the top of their timelines. And the composer for traditional tweets will be updated with more camera editing features from Fleets, like text-formatting and GIF stickers over photos.“We haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped.”Twitter’s decision to axe Fleets is not just an admission that the feature didn’t work, but that the company still hasn’t... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook plans to pay out $1 billion to creators over the next year and a half as part of an effort to court content makers to its many services. The money will be awarded to creators who use Facebook products in different ways: on Facebook, creators can get a cash bonus for running ads on their videos or reaching certain tipping milestones during livestreams; on Instagram, creators can get paid for enabling ads on their IGTV videos, getting tipped in livestreams, or creating popular videos on Reels.The money is available to creators on an invitation-only basis for now, and new options for making money will be announced later. Facebook indicated it would expand availability to more creators later in the year, launching a “dedicated... Continue reading…

Backchannel, Clubhouse’s messaging feature | Image: Clubhouse Now, you can slide into people’s Clubhouse DMs. The social audio company is launching its direct messaging feature, Backchannel, today for all users on both iOS and Android. For now, users can chat one-on-one, in groups, and send links. They cannot yet send images or videos, but a spokesperson says that functionality is coming, along with a “few other features.” There will also be an optional secondary inbox where message requests will live.The functionality is designed to help moderators chat among themselves during an active room; let people connect after an event; and broadly, foster text conversations that otherwise would have to take place in a separate app. We can’t say this development is much of a surprise, though: Clubhouse a... Continue reading…

Google is releasing the latest beta for Android 12 right on schedule. Beta 3 for Android 12 continues adding features, including scrolling screenshots, faster on-device universal search for apps, improved auto-rotate, and more. Google says this version of Android 12 has the “Android 12 APIs and the official SDK,” which means there shouldn’t be major feature changes in the upcoming betas. That should mean Android 12 is still on track for a fall release.The most interesting new feature in Android 12 Beta 3 is “better, faster auto-rotate.” Google is now using the front-facing camera and face detection to determine what orientation you’re trying to hold the phone (instead of just depending on the accelerometer).“This is especially helpful... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is working to make browsing more secure by soon offering an HTTPS-first option, which will try to upgrade page loads to HTTPS, the company announced on Wednesday. If you flip this option on, the browser will also show a full-page warning when you try to load up a site that doesn’t support HTTPS. The company is also announcing that it’s “re-examining” the lock icon in the URL bar and plans to experiment with a change to how that looks.HTTPS is a more secure version of HTTP (yes, the “S” stands for “secure”), and many of the websites you visit every day likely already support it. Since HTTPS encrypts your traffic, it’s a helpful privacy tool for when you’re using public Wi-Fi or to keep your ISP from snooping on the contents of... Continue reading…

Wildfires in the West can lead to power outages. There are around 20 federally qualified health centers in the areas touched by the Lava, Tennant, and Salt fires, which started in Northern California at the end of June. The centers are part of the state’s healthcare safety net and offer primary care to low-income patients in the area. Despite the fire risk to the facilities, none of those 20 centers had backup generators, says Andrew Schroeder, who runs analytics programs at the humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief.That’s key information for officials and aid groups: if the power went out because of the fires, those centers might not be able to keep medications and vaccines refrigerated or turn on computer systems with patient medical records. But before May, that’s not... Continue reading…

Image: Razer Razer’s largest laptop is getting big upgrades. The new mid-2021 refresh of the Blade 17 will add newer CPUs, higher-powered GPUs, and an updated webcam.The new Blade 17, which drops the “Pro” designation of earlier models, catches the larger laptop up to the Blade 15 Advanced released earlier this year. It now comes equipped with the same Intel 11th Gen H-Series processors, with a choice of the Core i7 11800H (2.3GHz base clock, 4.6GHz boost clock), or the top-tier Core i9 11900H (2.5GHz base, 4.9GHz boost), which isn’t available on Razer’s smaller models.The laptop also features GPUs from Nvidia’s latest RTX lineup, including the 3060, 3070, and the 3080, with up to 16GB of video memory. Crucially, Razer has increased the Blade 17’s... Continue reading…

Solar panels that were installed on four buildings on the Microsoft Corp. campus in Mountain View, California, Wednesday, April 25, 2007. | Photo by Tony Avelar/Bloomberg via Getty Images With a new strategy for how it purchases renewable energy, Microsoft hopes to push electricity grids to get clean. The tech giant is now focused on making a local impact in the places where it operates.Since 2012, the company has purchased enough renewable energy to match how much juice it uses to power its operations globally. But Microsoft isn’t actually running on renewables 100 percent of the time. All of those clean energy purchases don’t necessarily connect to the same electricity grids that the company is plugged into.Clean energy purchases don’t necessarily connect to the same electricity grids that the company is plugged intoThat could change if Microsoft is successful in its new goal. By 2030, it wants to make sure that... Continue reading…

Microsoft is putting Windows in the cloud. Windows 365 is a new service that will let businesses access Cloud PCs from anywhere, streaming a version of Windows 10 or Windows 11 in a web browser. While virtualization and remote access to PCs has existed for more than a decade, Microsoft is betting on Windows 365 to offer Cloud PCs to businesses just as they shift toward a mix of office and remote work.Windows 365 will work on any modern web browser or through Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app, allowing users to access their Cloud PC from a variety of devices. “Windows 365 provides an instant-on boot experience,” according to Wangui McKelvey, a general manager for Microsoft 365. This instant access lets workers stream their Windows session... Continue reading…

Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images Facebook has asked recently confirmed Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan to recuse herself from the agency’s antitrust fight against Facebook, claiming her previous criticism of the company disqualifies her from fairly judging its conduct.The Wall Street Journal first reported on Facebook’s petition, which was filed with the FTC today. In the petition, Facebook attorneys write that “Chair Khan has consistently and very publicly concluded that Facebook is guilty of violating the antitrust laws. She has built her career, in large part, by singling out Facebook as a professed antitrust violator.” Facebook cites Khan’s previous anti-monopoly work at the nonprofit Open Markets Institute, her contribution to a congressional antitrust... Continue reading…

The urban heat island effect can be deadly Continue reading…

Loki’s signature gadget, reviewed Continue reading…

Netflix Kids will now have its own top 10 row. | Image: Netflix Netflix is launching two new tools this week that should help make finding age-appropriate content a little easier to discover within the kids version of its streaming service.Today, Netflix is introducing a new Top 10 row for age-restricted profiles, borrowing one of the most useful tools for discovery from the adult version of the service. Netflix’s existing top 10 tool works by surfacing the most popular titles on the service, often new and original titles, which can make finding something to stream a lot less of a headache. Launching in 93 countries, the row will be updated daily and will feature both shows and movies with the regional equivalent of a PG and below rating. Additionally, titles that make the cut will display a “Top... Continue reading…

Learn how to draw yourself as a Peanuts character in the first “Today at Apple” YouTube session. | Image: Apple Apple is bringing its educational “Today at Apple” classes to YouTube, the company announced Wednesday. The first episode will show you how to draw yourself as a Peanuts character in the company’s Pages app.The session features two people who work on the Apple TV Plus show The Snoopy Show — showrunner Mark Evestaff and storyboard artist Krista Porter — and it’s hosted by an Apple Store employee named Anthony. I’ve watched the nearly 10-minute episode, and it’s a pretty easy guide to follow about turning yourself into a Peanuts cartoon. Unsurprisingly, it’s packed with Apple technologies; Anthony and Porter draw on iPads using Apple Pencils, and they’re collaborating in the same Pages document.“Today at Apple” first launched in 2017A... Continue reading…

Breath of the Wild changed a lot about The Legend of Zelda. Most importantly, it made the fantasy realm of Hyrule more open, increasing the sense of pure adventure. If you saw something off on the horizon — a crumbling ruin, a giant mountain, whatever — you could find your own way there, rather than following a path laid out by the game’s developers. It’s what made the game so refreshing, but it could also make going back to older entries challenging.At least, that was my fear playing Skyward Sword, which originally launched a decade ago and is coming to the Switch this week. Aside from a few quality-of-life tweaks, slightly updated visuals, and the very welcome addition of a motion control-free control scheme, the new version is the... Continue reading…

Amazon is launching the next line of products for its Build It crowdfunding platform. The company has collaborated with fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg on a range of Echo Dot smart speakers that’ll only go on sale if enough people pre-order them within 30 days.That’s by no means a given. Amazon launched the Build It program earlier this year with three Alexa-powered devices — a nutrition scale, a cuckoo clock, and a sticky note printer — and only the last of those reached its goal in time. Amazon currently estimates that the Smart Sticky Note Printer will ship between July and September, but if you didn’t get in on the Build It campaign, you can’t pre-order it right now.The Echo Dot x Diane von Furstenberg range comes in three... Continue reading…

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge The gaming industry saw explosive growth in 2020, with more than half of US residents turning to video games as a way to pass the time, socialize, and generally entertain themselves during the pandemic. If you’re new to the whole gaming thing, however, you might want to consider picking up a capable headset before jumping into competitive play. Thankfully, everything in HyperX’s headset lineup is consistently reliable, with the Cloud Alpha S being a solid choice for those looking for clean sound, comfort, and a subtle look that should mesh well with just about anything. Right now, the jet black model is on sale at Amazon for $90, nearly matching the best price we’ve seen on the wired headset. Read our review.Like HyperX, Blue is a... Continue reading…

An artistic rendering of a satellite in orbit. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has acquired a team of employees from Facebook focused on delivering internet connectivity from low Earth orbit satellites, The Information reports. Amazon paid Facebook an undisclosed sum as part of the acquisition, which saw more than a dozen Los Angeles-based employees switch companies in April to work on Project Kuiper. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the news to The Information.The move brings an end to Facebook’s efforts to deliver internet connectivity to remote areas via its own satellites. When it confirmed the initiative in 2018 the company said that it believed the technology would make it possible “to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where internet connectivity is lacking or non-existent.” Facebook had... Continue reading…

Disney’s Loki TV show is getting a second season, according to a scene appended to the sixth and final episode of its first season. The confirmation, first spotted by Variety, comes mid-way through the episode’s credits at the 42 minute and 48 second mark, when a stamp appears on screen which simply reads “Loki will return in season 2.”Loki is the third Marvel show to have premiered on Disney Plus, and the first to have had a second season officially confirmed. WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen has confirmed that the show, which premiered in January this year, isn’t due to receive a second season. Meanwhile it’s currently unclear whether The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will return for a second season, especially given the show leads... Continue reading…

More than 35 organizations are demanding top US retailers cease using facial recognition to identify shoppers and employees in their stores, which companies have used to deter theft and identify shoplifters.The campaign is aptly named Ban Facial Recognition in Stores, and has identified stores that have committed to not using facial recognition, like Walmart, Home Depot, and Target. It is now pressuring companies currently using the technology, or those who might use it in the future. Some companies that are currently using the technology, according to the website, include Apple, Lowe’s, Albertsons, Macy’s, and Ace Hardware.Companies that might use it in the future include McDonalds, Walgreens, and 7-Eleven. A full list can be found... Continue reading…

Photo by: BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images On Wednesday, Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a discussion draft of legislation that proposes sweeping reform to marijuana policy in the US. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act would decriminalize marijuana federally, expunge federal non-violent cannabis convictions (and encourage states to do the same), and create “new grant programs to fund nonprofits that provide services to those adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.”In the introduction to the 30-page draft legislation, the senators note that adult use of cannabis is already legal in 18 states, Washington D.C., the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. Medicinal marijuana is even more widespread, legal in 37 states, Puerto... Continue reading…

Last year’s iPhone 12 Pro. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple’s flagship 2021 iPhones will come in the same sizes as last year’s models, but with a smaller display notch, according to a new report from Bloomberg. This mirrors previous predictions from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to Bloomberg, this year’s phones will be an iterative upgrade over the iPhone 12 series, and will include incremental improvements to their processors, cameras, and displays when they’re announced in September.Bloomberg reports that “at least one” of the four new devices will include an LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) display. It’s a technology Apple has previously used with its smartwatches to dynamically adjust their screen refresh rates to conserve battery. That lines up with a previous prediction... Continue reading…

MagSafe Battery Pack | Image: Apple Apple surprised us Tuesday by simply putting its latest iPhone accessory on sale. The $99 MagSafe Battery Pack isn’t the first power cell we’ve seen that uses Apple’s new magnetic system to connect with the iPhone 12 family (Anker offers a 5,000mAh pack with slower 5W charging for $45.99), but it is the first one from Apple and can charge at up to 15W while it’s plugged in.MacRumors and 9to5Mac point out a support document that helps answer a few questions we immediately had about the device, including confirmation that this will unlock the iPhone 12’s “secret” reverse charging feature. While iFixit didn’t spot any additional hardware to add wireless charging, FCC filings revealed the company’s plan to let you charge accessories while... Continue reading…

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged embattled space infrastructure startup Momentus Space and its founder, Mikhail Kokorich, with allegedly misleading investors about its propulsion technology and downplaying regulators’ national security concerns associated with Kokorich, who is Russian.The SEC also charged the company, Stable Road Acquisition Corp, that was going to acquire Momentus as part of a deal to take the startup public (and sidestep the IPO process). Stable Road Acquisition Corp is a SPAC, a company that exists only to buy another company; the CEO of Stable Road, Brian Kabot, and its sponsor SRC-NI have also been charged by the SEC. Everyone except Kokorich has settled the charges with the SEC and paid a... Continue reading…

Large touchscreens are commonplace in new cars these days, and the bigger these rectangular screens get, the fewer things you can do with the hardware to really differentiate from the competition. Perhaps that’s why, in the new 2022 AMG SL Roadster, Mercedes-Benz is taking the screen out of the dashboard, anchoring it to the center console, and letting it electronically flip up and down.That’s right, Mercedes-Benz’s newest car has a flippy screen. The company said it designed the 11.9-inch portrait touchscreen this way in order to help fight glare — the AMG SL Roadster is a convertible, after all — but it’s also clearly a flashy parlor trick that seems to say, “Hey, we did something different from Tesla.”The new AMG SL Roadster also... Continue reading…

Image: Facebook Facebook is introducing a new feature called “Group Experts” today, which will allow admins to designate which members are highly knowledgeable about the group’s topic.Beyond the bragging rights, Group Experts will have a badge next to their name emblazoned with the proof of their elevated status. This badge will show up on posts, comments, and in the Q&A feature.Group Experts will be selected by group administrators, and experts will only be given this extraordinary power once they have accepted the nomination. Admins can revoke the expert status, as well.Facebook is testing ways to make it easier for admins to find these experts, by prompting specific users, currently in the gaming and fitness spaces, to add which games or... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Nintendo Switch owners have been experiencing problems with the console’s removable Joy-Con controllers for years now, with users reporting weird joystick drifting problems that cause false inputs and have been steadily growing over time as original Switch machines grow older.Ever since a report by Kotaku from July 2019 shined a light on the Joy-Con drift issue, Nintendo has changed its policies significantly. The company will now repair drifting Joy-Con controllers for free, even if your controllers are outside the regular warranty. But Nintendo hasn’t changed the design of the controllers, and it’s still an issue today, even on the refreshed Switch models that launched last year.If you’re looking for more information on the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is being charged with a historic €500 million ($589 million) fine from the French Competition Authority (FCA) for failing to comply with an April 2020 order to negotiate fairly with news publishers over the use of, and payment for, their articles and other content (via CNBC).News publishers gained the ability to request payment for the use of their content on third-party platforms with the passage of the European Union’s controversial Copyright Directive, which was adopted by France in 2019 and generally tries to shift power toward content producers rather than the platforms that reshare their work. Article 11 of the directive, colloquially called the “Link Tax,” gives publishers the right to ask for payment for snippets of... Continue reading…

Tap the three dots menu to change who can reply to your tweet. | Image: Twitter Twitter is rolling out the ability to let you change who can reply to a tweet after you have posted it, the company announced Tuesday. You could already limit who replied to your tweets thanks to a feature rolled out widely in August, but you had to set that preference while writing the tweet — with this update, you can change who can reply at a later time, which could be a helpful way to reduce harassment. The feature will be available globally on iOS, Android, and the web.To change who can reply, click or tap the three-dot menu on a tweet and look for the option in the menu that appears. You can make it so that everyone can reply, only people you follow can reply, or only people you mention in your tweet can reply.

General Motors is dropping wireless smartphone charging from some new SUVs because of the global microchip shortage. It’s the latest feature to get the axe at the company due to the low supply of semiconductors, as GM has already pulled HD radio from some models, along with auto start-stop and a fuel management module that made pickup trucks slightly cleaner and more efficient.Certain trims of the 2021 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, as well as the 2021 GMC Yukon, made after July 12th will no longer include a wireless charging pad, as was first reported by the GM Authority blog. But GM tells The Verge that certain 2022 Buick Enclaves, Chevy Traverses, and Cadillac XT5s and XT6s made after August 2nd are also affected.Buyers of these... Continue reading…