The Verge

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…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Discord has purchased a company working on AI tools to detect harassment online. The company, Sentropy, monitors online networks for abuse and harassment, then offers users a way to block problematic people and filter out messages they don’t want to see. Its first product, Sentropy Protect, was initially focused on helping users clean up their Twitter feeds.The company is now shutting down its independent tools and joining Discord, where it plans to help the hugely popular chat app “expand and evolve its [trust and safety] capabilities.”It could be a good pairing. Discord has a huge network, with more than 150 million monthly users, and servers can be a real challenge to moderate. The service is made up of more than 19 million... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Quibi wasn’t long for this world, but its spirit refuses to let us move on from its chaotic memory. Despite shutting down in December, the doomed streaming service scooped up several Emmy nominations today for its shortform originals across three categories.The service received eight nominations for three of its series, including Die Hart, Mapleworth Murders, and Reno 911! As was the case when a handful of Quibi originals were nominated for Emmy awards last year, the service cleaned up in shortform content categories, which makes a lot of sense considering it doesn’t exactly have a ton of competition in the arena. Its nominations by category are as follows:

A trader monitors offers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index options pit at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) on August 24, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Many S&P 100 companies that claim to care about climate change are either ignoring or derailing policies that could provide solutions to the crisis, a new report finds. A whopping 92 percent of companies on the S&P 100 index in 2019 have pledged to cut down their own planet-heating emissions, but just 40 percent are actually pushing lawmakers to address the climate crisis, and 21 percent have advocated against science-based climate policy over the past five years.Corporations and lawmakers alike will need to do much more to meet the scale and urgency of the climate crisisSo while companies might sell themselves to consumers as planet-friendly, they’re not necessarily having the same conversations with decision-makers who are most... Continue reading…

Image: Apple Even if you haven’t signed up for the Apple Card, you may soon be able to put your purchases on Apple’s tab. Apple is teaming up with Goldman Sachs yet again to turn every Apple Pay transaction into a potential “buy now, pay later” opportunity, reports Bloomberg — no Apple Card needed.You know how many online checkout counters across the web tempt you to pay with Affirm or Klarna or PayPal’s Pay In 4 instead of coughing up the full purchase price at the start, then they charge you in installments instead? It sounds like this Apple service will be a direct competitor — with the important distinction that this will be baked into hundreds of millions of Apple devices that many people are already using to tap to pay at gobs of physical... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google Workspace Individual, the company’s Workspace plan designed to give one-person businesses access to some premium features in the software suite, is now available in five countries (via 9to5Google).With Workspace Individual, you’ll be able to host group meetings in Google Meet for longer than 60 minutes on a computer as well as record Meet calls and use noise cancellation. Workspace Individual also makes it easy to let others schedule time on your Google Calendar, thanks to shareable booking pages. And professional and customizable email layouts in Gmail are “coming soon” to the Workspace tier.Workspace Individual is available if you live in Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and the US, according to a Google support doc, and you can... Continue reading…

If you’ve ever purchased inflight Wi-Fi in the United States, there’s a good chance you’ve cursed Gogo’s name. But now, you’ll have to direct your anger at Intelsat instead: it’s the new name of the consumer chunk of the inflight internet company.Technically, Intelsat is also the name of that chunk’s owner, a bankrupt satellite operator that purchased the inflight internet’s consumer brand in 2020, at a time when both companies were struggling with the realities of travel at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gogo furloughed 60 percent of its workforce in April 2020 and laid off 14 percent of its workers that July.The Gogo brand will likely still live on for “business aviation,” however, as Gogo Business Aviation, LLC is now a... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google is revising how much of a cut it takes from Stadia games in a bid to try to attract more developers. Starting on October 1st, Google will take 15 percent of sales up to $3 million through the end of 2023.With the change, Google seems to be trying to make its cloud gaming platform a more enticing option for developers — a proposition that has likely become much harder since the company shut down its own in-house studios. Google has also tried offering exclusive games to try to bring developers on board (which it presumably paid hefty sums to acquire), but many of those games have since been released on other platforms.The news comes as revenue shares between developers and platform holders have come under intense scrutiny as of... Continue reading…

Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack. | Image: Apple Apple has launched the MagSafe Battery Pack for its iPhone 12 lineup. One of the magnetic batteries costs $99, and you can order one right now from Apple’s website. For me, the website is showing delivery between July 22nd and July 26th.Apple has released battery cases for iPhones in the past, but the new pack attaches to the iPhone 12 phones thanks to embedded magnets. And it will work with all four of the phones in the iPhone 12 family — the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Image: Apple One side of the MagSafe Battery Pack. While the iPhone 11 battery cases had a physical camera shortcut button, since this accessory is just an attachable pack, that means it doesn’t come with... Continue reading…

Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images Republicans are questioning Amazon’s relationship with the Pentagon after newly released emails show that defense officials praised tech executives vying for a $10 billion contract during the Trump administration.On Tuesday, The New York Times reported on previously unreleased emails that show Pentagon officials applauding Amazon executives while the company sought out a lucrative defense contract between 2017 and 2018. The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project, or JEDI, set out to find a tech company that would move the Defense Department’s computer networks over to the cloud.In one instance, the Times reports that former Trump Defense Secretary Jim Mattis traveled to Silicon Valley to meet with executives from companies... Continue reading…

Image: Microsoft Design Microsoft’s Windows 11 preview has been available for a couple of weeks now, but I’m still discovering new animations and details in this new OS that put a smile on my face. While the new Start menu and centered taskbar are the obvious changes in Windows 11 that you’ll notice straight away, it’s the small animations throughout the OS that really make it feel a lot more fresh and alive than ever before.Microsoft has started detailing some of the design approaches it has used for Windows 11 and its attention to detail for daily micro-interactions. That includes things like a checkbox that has an animated tick to subtly let you know when you interact with it, or a settings cog that spins when you hover over it. Plenty of buttons in Windows... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge While we usually look for major features in a device — speed or sound quality or picture sharpness — sometimes it’s the little things that can make or break your experience with that device.I realized this recently when I bought myself a pair of Jabra Elite 75t earbuds for day-to-day use. I really liked my new earbuds. But while my previous headset came with a detachable loop that you could use to attach it to a bag or a keyring or whatever, the Jabra case has no way of attaching to anything.Now, I wasn’t about to return the earbuds because of this, but it did cause me to growl a little. In order to get that same convenient functionality I had enjoyed with my previous earbuds, I had to buy a cheap silicone cover for the case — one... Continue reading…

Instagram Instagram doesn’t want you to spam your friends with all of the posts you come across and like. So today, it’s starting a test to make sharing to Stories slightly trickier. The company is testing a “reshare” sticker that can be placed in Stories. When selected, a “recently viewed” tab will surface and let users choose from posts they’ve seen in the last hour, saved, or posted, which they can then share in their story. They can insert IGTV, reels, and feed video content.You can get an idea of what the test looks like in the image above. Previously, if you wanted to share a feed post to your story, you had to so manually from the post itself. This test will replace that functionality, effectively requiring you to navigate away from the... Continue reading…

A weather forecast on iOS 15 compared to the rounded forecast on iOS 14.6 | Photo: Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge If you’re an iPhone user, the weather is always a particularly nice 70 degrees. Or 68 degrees. Any temperature but 69 degrees, actually, because it turns out that the built-in weather app on some versions of iOS — including the current version, iOS 14.6 — will refuse to display the internet’s favorite number, even if the actual temperature in a given location is, in fact, 69 degrees.It’s not clear if this is a bug or an intentional attempt from Apple to cut down on 69-related humor. The rounding is only visible in the weather app itself: clicking through to Apple’s source data from Weather.com will show the proper temperature, as does Apple’s home screen widgets.That said, the iOS weather app will refuse to show 69 degrees anywhere... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A centralized repository of COVID-19 health records built last year is beginning to show results, starting with a new paper published today. The repository is the largest set of COVID-19 records to date, and was built by a team of researchers and data experts last year to help make sense of COVID-19.The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, looked at risk factors for severe cases of COVID-19 and traced the progression of the disease over time. The authors built machine learning models to predict which hospitalized patients would develop severe disease based on information collected on their first day in a hospital.Using the centralized database, called the National COVID Cohort Collaborative Data Enclave, or N3C, meant... Continue reading…

The Barracuda X borrows the sleek design of Razer’s Opus headphones. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Razer has introduced the Barracuda X, a multiplatform wireless gaming headset that takes design cues from the company’s Opus noise-canceling headphones. They’re launching today for $99.99, which is more aggressive than I expected, given that the company usually comes in at a premium price point.The Barracuda X is a big step for Razer in that it’s finally jumping into USB-C connectivity — both in terms of how the headset charges and how it transmits audio wirelessly. Included in the box is a small USB-C wireless transmitter that’s almost identical to the one that SteelSeries has included with some of its headsets since 2019. It allows compatibility with the Nintendo Switch in portable mode, the PS5’s front-facing USB-C port, and some... Continue reading…

Tango Gameworks Ghostwire: Tokyo, the paranormal action game from Japanese studio Tango Gameworks, is being delayed to early 2022. Tango Gameworks posted the news in a tweet, saying it will show more of the game in the coming months.“We want to get the game in your hands as soon as possible so you can experience the unforgettable version of a haunted Tokyo that we’ve been hard at work building. At the same time, we’re also focused on protecting the health of everyone at Tango,” the announcement reads. “Our new release window will give us time to bring the world of Ghostwire to life as we’ve always envisioned it.” The game was previously slated for release in fall of 2021.

Photo: Marvel Studios Production designer Kasra Farahani explains the show’s distinct look Continue reading…

Image: Geek With Social Skills Karateka, an early martial arts side-scroller published in the US by Broderbund in 1984, was a little before my time. It was created by Jordan Mechner before he went on to make Prince of Persia — a game I do remember thanks to the horror of sending that character to a bloody, pixelated death on a bed of spikes. Karateka however was an early hit, with later iterations making it to NES and Game Boy. And the original Apple II version included a delightful little easter egg from the early days of PC gaming — putting in the floppy disk upside down would boot up the game upside down.This isn’t new exactly — people have been trying this trick for more than 35 years — but it was new to me, and I got a quick refresher today thanks to the magic... Continue reading…

Supporters of democracy in Hong Kong protest outside the Chinese embassy in London on July 1st | Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media via Getty Images A new letter from a tech industry group is driving home the risks of Hong Kong’s proposed anti-doxxing rules.Sent to Hong Kong’s privacy commissioner for personal data by the Asia Internet Coalition (which counts Google, Apple and Facebook as members), the letter argues that the new measures will have an extreme impact on due process in Hong Kong, and could result in major US tech companies ceasing operations there. The letter was first obtained by The Wall Street Journal.“The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from... offering their services in Hong Kong.”The letter comes in response to series of amendments to Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO), proposed by the privacy... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Three days after ransomware attackers started the holiday weekend by compromising Kaseya VSA, we have a clearer idea of how widespread the impact has been. In a new ransom demand, the attackers claim to have compromised more than 1 million computers, and demand $70 million to decrypt the affected devices.Kaseya’s software is used by Managed Service Providers to perform IT tasks remotely, but on July 2nd, the Russia-linked REvil ransomware group deployed a malicious software update exposing providers who use the platform, and their clients.The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD) revealed that it appears the exploit used for the breach was same one they discovered and were in the process of addressing when the attackers... Continue reading…

The OnePlus 9 misses some of the high-end features on the more expensive Pro model, but it’s a better overall buy for most people. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge The OnePlus’ latest flagship phones are marked down at several retailers, as spotted by Android Police, bringing the normally $729 OnePlus 9 down to $649 and the OnePlus 9 Pro (usually $1069) to $969. We think that the more basic 9 is already the better buy than the 9 Pro for most people, and the extra $80 off the retail price makes it an even sweeter deal.The OnePlus 9 gives up surprisingly few features compared to its more expensive sibling — you still get a Snapdragon 888 processor, display with 120Hz refresh rate, and an excellent 50-megapixel ultrawide camera. You’ll have to make do with an unstabilized main camera, plastic rather than aluminum frame, and slower wireless charging. Considering that you save more than $300 off the... Continue reading…

Croatian electric supercar startup Rimac announced that it was taking over Bugatti from Volkswagen to form a new company called Bugatti Rimac. The news was first reported by the Financial Times.Bugatti Rimac will be led by Mate Rimac, who founded the company in 2009 in a garage as a one-man operation. Over that period, Rimac has become a highly desirable brand, with many legacy automakers calling upon the startup to help build their own electric supercars.It’s not much of a question why that is. Earlier this year, Rimac released the Nevera, a quad-motor, 1,914 horsepower demonstration of electric absurdity, with a top speed of 258mph and an ability to leap to zero to 60mph in less than 2 seconds. The Nevera is expected to be the... Continue reading…