The Verge

Photo: HBO / WarnerMedia There’s a quality that some long-running chat podcasts have that can feel like a brick wall for new listeners. Existing relationships, in-jokes, and context that friends and co-hosts have are additional barriers to feeling like you’re a part of the conversation. The casual hangout and chat format is tantalizing for its naturalism, but it also comes with parasocial relationships as baggage. Which makes HBO’s new late-night project, Pause with Sam Jay, so intriguing. It has hangout podcasts in its DNA, but it’s also out to reinvent a decades-old late-night format.Pause is co-created by Sam Jay, stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live writer, and Prentice Penny, showrunner and executive producer of Insecure. It feels fresh for some... Continue reading…

Image: Penn Executive Chairs It started with a tweet from Roadshow editor-in-chief Tim Stevens. A picture of a chair that seemed to effortlessly skim the line between office chair, La-Z-Boy recliner, and Victorian throne. An utter affront to design, taste, and style.This chair:

Pregnancy apps could use some new features. | Photo by Philip Cheung for The Washington Post via Getty Images A great scholar once noted that “there’s an app for that.” Pregnancy is no exception. I use my phone to manage just about everything else in my life, so when I found out I was pregnant, it was a natural next step to go looking for an app to hold my hand through the experience. I’ve been using a couple of popular apps interchangeably — Ovia and What to Expect — and generally, they’re pretty good. But I have notes.So without further ado, here’s a list of demands from me, a pregnant lady with no app development experience, to the pregnancy app creators of the world. It’s the impractical pregnancy tracking app of my dreams. And believe it or not, you can use these ideas for free in your next update. You’re welcome.

Elizabeth Kari at the AAP(I Belong) exhibition at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. | Photo by Cindy Trinh A video of her mom’s assault went viral — now she wants to tell a different story about anti-Asian hate Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge India’s government has criticized Twitter for applying its “manipulated media” label to some Indian politicians’ tweets about COVID-19 efforts, and TechCrunch and Indian news media outlets reported Friday. The government has asked Twitter to remove the tags out of “fairness and equity,” saying the application of the labels affects the platform’s image as “neutral and unbiased.”The government sent the notice to Twitter two days after it applied the “manipulated media” label to a tweet by Sambit Patra, of India’s ruling BJP party. Patra said in the tweet, which appears to have been deleted (it’s not clear whether Twitter removed it or if Patra deleted it himself), that opposition party Congress had used a “toolkit” in attempts to subvert... Continue reading…

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images For months during the union drive, Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, felt like they were being watched. There were cameras around BHM1, the 855,000-square-foot warehouse where workers sorted, scanned, and packed boxes. A uniformed police officer patrolled the parking lot all hours of the day and night. Managers came up to peoples’ workstations to ask how they felt about the organizing campaign. So when Amazon had a new USPS mailbox installed — ostensibly to increase voter turnout — many felt they couldn’t trust it.“Amazon said only the post office had access to it, but that’s not how it felt,” said Serena Wallace, an employee BHM1 who testified on behalf of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). “I... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Apple might have discontinued the original, full-size HomePod smart speaker, but the company is continuing to add new functionality to it. The latest one relies on you also buying the new, second-generation Apple TV 4K, however. If you own both products, there’s now built-in support for HDMI ARC and eARC, which lets the HomePod play audio from other devices plugged into your TV — not just an Apple TV streaming box. Gaming consoles should work; same goes for Blu-ray players or even another streaming gadget.The feature can be enabled in the “video and audio” area of the Apple TV settings menu. There you’ll see a field labeled “Audio Return Channel (beta),” where you can tell the Apple TV to route all television audio through HomePod... Continue reading…

Image: Fisker Inc. EV startup Fisker Inc. says it will make the first all-electric popemobile, using a modified version of its forthcoming Ocean SUV. Automotive designer Henrik Fisker and Geeta Gupta-Fisker (his wife and Fisker Inc. co-founder) presented Pope Francis with images of the proposed design during a meeting at the Vatican on Thursday.Those images show a white Ocean SUV with a glass cupola on top that would let the pope greet the public. The company says it will deliver the vehicle sometime next year. (The regular version of the Ocean SUV is supposed to launch near the end of 2022.)Traditionally, the official popemobiles are made by Mercedes-Benz and have to be properly armored and outfitted with bulletproof glass. It’s not clear exactly how... Continue reading…

Photo by Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Image ‘We make this sort of heinous crime impossible to escape from’ Continue reading…

Twitter will launch its Ticketed Spaces in the next couple weeks. | Image: Twitter Twitter’s getting ready for the launch of its Ticketed Spaces feature, and today, it’s previewing what users can expect when they go to host their first one. US users will be able to apply to host paid live audio rooms starting in the next couple weeks. Anyone who wants to charge has to have 1,000 followers, have hosted three spaces in the past 30 days, and be at least 18 years old.The company is partnering with Stripe to handle payments, and it says users will receive 80 percent of revenue after Apple and Google’s in-app purchase fees are taken. So if you sell a $10 ticket, Apple would presumably take a 30 percent cut, leaving you and Twitter to split the remaining $7. Eighty percent would go to you, and 20 percent would go to Twitter.... Continue reading…

The fitness watch that lives up to its name Continue reading…

Photo by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress Tensions between Google and its AI brain trust DeepMind have always been fascinating. To put the relationship in crude terms: DeepMind, founded in 2010, is home to some the best AI researchers in the world who output a steady stream of insightful academic papers and Nature front covers. Google, meanwhile, bought DeepMind in 2014 and bankrolls its large losses, and it really, really wants to squeeze some money out of all those juicy brains.That’s why a recent story on the two companies from The Wall Street Journal is so interesting. In it, Parmy Olson reports that Google has ended yearslong negotiations between the two firms, ultimately rejecting a plea from DeepMind for more independence.One idea reportedly suggested was for DeepMind... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Jack Edwards doesn’t want to be praised for doing what he considers the bare minimum: making his videos accessible to his deaf and hard of hearing viewers.Edwards began making book and lifestyle videos on YouTube five years ago, but he only started captioning all of his videos in January. “It was one of my goals this year to invest more time into making my channel more accessible for viewers,” he says. “I always think about the quote, ‘It’s a privilege to learn, rather than to experience,’ and that’s true for so many accessibility issues. I don’t rely on subtitles to enjoy YouTube content, so it’s easy to forget that others do.”Captions are up 30 percent year to yearMore creators like Edwards have been writing captions for their... Continue reading…

Spotify Spotify is adding the ability to download playlists, albums, and podcasts on Apple Watch to play offline, the company announced Friday. Users will be able to stream audio in 96kbps, add and delete Spotify content on their phones, and sync with the Watch.“Being able to download music and podcasts complements the existing feature of being able to stream your favorites from the watch, and now you don’t even have to take your phone with you,” the company said in its news release.Your browser does not support HTML5 video.Spotify added the ability to stream music using an Apple Watch in November; until that point, the Apple Watch only worked as a remote for Spotify music playing on an iPhone or other Spotify Connect-compatible device.... Continue reading…

If you’ve got an Apple TV, it’s a must-have upgrade Continue reading…

The Normandy in No Man’s Sky. No Man’s Sky players who are fans of the beloved sci-fi series Mass Effect will soon be in for a treat: Mass Effect’s legendary SSV Normandy SR-1 starship will be appearing in No Man’s Sky.The Normandy’s arrival is the culmination of an alternate reality game that’s taken place inside No Man’s Sky over the past few days. If you want to add the Normandy to your frigate fleet (a group of ships you dispatch on missions), you have until May 31st to participate in the expedition (an event where players share an adventure on the same planet) that lets you acquire it. Image: Hello Games Another screenshot of the Normandy in No Man’s Sky. The crossover arrives just a week after the release of Mass Effect Legendary... Continue reading…

Snap’s fourth-generation Spectacles. | Photo: Snap Snap has agreed to acquire WaveOptics, the supplier of the augmented reality displays that power its new Spectacles glasses, for more than $500 million, The Verge has learned. The deal is Snap’s largest ever, underscoring the company’s long-term bet that AR eyewear will eventually go mainstream.WaveOptics primarily makes waveguides, a display technology that allows for the overlaying of virtual objects onto the real world through a transparent surface like glass, and accompanying light projectors. Snap is using WaveOptics displays in the new Spectacles announced this week, which it isn’t selling widely but is giving to a small number of AR effect creators.Based in the UK and founded in 2014, WaveOptics raised a total of $65 million in... Continue reading…

Microsoft is outlining its vision for the future of meetings today. After a year that’s seen more people dialing into the office remotely, the company is once again banging the drum for hybrid work: a model that combines remote access with in-person work.While the company has been teasing new concepts for Microsoft Teams in recent months, it’s now starting to bring to life an updated interface for the communications software that will help blend remote colleagues into physical meeting rooms.A new video details Microsoft’s plans, which include larger screens that help facilitate face-to-face meetings with life-sized remote colleagues. Microsoft imagines meeting rooms where cameras are placed at eye level to improve eye contact, and... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The colorful, 2021 iMac might become the desktop of choice for most people, however, when it comes to flexibility, few products rival the 2020 Mac Mini. It’s fast and functional, and right now, you can pick up the base configuration at Costco (membership required) or Amazon for $600, its lowest price yet. The discounted, 8GB model is built upon Apple’s eight-core M1 chip and includes 256GB of storage and Wi-Fi 6. It’s also remarkably quiet, though, it lacks a wide selection of ports and doesn’t support external GPUs, a notable downgrade from previous Mac models. Still, the drawbacks don’t render the M1 iMac any less of a deal.Netflix remains the undisputed king of streaming with more than 208 million subscribers, but it’s one of many... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Wired has published an in-depth feature on the 2011 hack of security company RSA, in which hackers stole the so-called “crown jewels of cybersecurity,” the secret keys forming a “crucial ingredient” of its SecurID two-factor authentication devices. It would go on to “redefine the cybersecurity landscape” with huge implications for not just RSA, but also the organizations that relied on its devices for their own security.Wired’s Andy Greenberg describes the moment RSA analyst Todd Leetham discovered that hackers had accessed one of RSA’s most important pieces of data:

Make any wall switch Hue-smart Continue reading…

Microsoft is finally adding a dark mode to its Office app for Android. While the Office app has been available on iOS and Android for more than a year, only the iOS version has included built-in dark mode support until now.“It’s been a highly requested feature by many of our customers,” admits Sourab Nagpal, a product manager at Microsoft. “Many people prefer using Dark Mode as they find it provides a more comfortable visual experience for reading and working on mobile devices.”The latest Office app for Android will now automatically enable dark mode if you’ve set that as a system preference on your Android device. Dark mode can also be toggled from the home tab in the Office app. Microsoft says it’s rolling out dark mode for Office on... Continue reading…

Tinder’s profile vaccination badges. | Image: Tinder A group of the USA’s biggest dating apps are encouraging users to get vaccinated, just in case the health benefits weren’t reason enough. New features will range from badges for users to show their vaccination status, free premium features for vaccinated users, and links to vaccination resources like the Vaccines.gov website. The apps taking part in the scheme include Match Group’s Tinder, Hinge, Match, OKCupid, BLK, Chispa, and Plenty of Fish services, as well as Bumble and Badoo.The aim is to encourage users to get vaccinated, with the implied promise of more matches and hence more dates. The announcement cites research from OKCupid suggesting that people who either are, or plan to be, vaccinated get 14 percent more matches. Some apps... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is shutting down its standalone Prime Now delivery app, with its speedy two-hour delivery options moving exclusively into the company’s main app and website, the company announced today. Prime Now services have already moved into the main app in India, Japan, and Singapore, while in other countries Amazon is already directing Prime Now users into its main app and website via a pop-up, CNBC notes. The standalone Prime Now app and website will be retired by the end of the year.Originally launched in 2014, Prime Now was designed to offer deliveries of essential items within hours rather than days for Prime members. The service was initially available in just a small number of cities, but has since expanded to over 5,000 locations... Continue reading…

Yesterday OnLeaks released CAD renders of what is supposedly Google’s next flagship phone, the Pixel 6 Pro, and now the noted leaker has followed up with details and images of the smaller model, posted at 91Mobiles. The so-called Pixel 6 looks like it’ll adopt the same distinctive design as the Pro, with one colorway featuring orange and white sections broken up by a glossy black bar that houses the camera bump.You’ll find one fewer camera in that bump, according to the leak — it’s said to be a dual-camera setup, presumably a regular wide and an ultrawide. The 6 Pro, on the other hand, appears to include a periscope telephoto lens. Both phones are depicted with a single centrally aligned hole-punch selfie camera.A 6.4-inch display... Continue reading…

Kensington’s StudioDock, the high-end $399.99 desktop hub for the iPad Pro that was released earlier this year, isn’t compatible with the new 12.9-inch model hitting stores today. A representative for Kensington confirmed the news to The Verge, saying it’s because the new iPad Pro is 0.5mm thicker than the 2018 and 2020 models.The StudioDock uses a rotatable magnetic mounting plate to secure the iPad when it’s plugged in over USB-C, expanding its connectivity with extra USB-A, ethernet, and HDMI ports. Although the only difference between the StudioDock versions for the 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPad Pro is the size of that mounting plate, Kensington says it won’t be user-replaceable. Instead, the company plans to release an entirely new... Continue reading…

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart brings alternate realities to the beloved PlayStation franchise on June 11th, and along with leveraging the PlayStation 5’s SSD, Insomniac Games announced new accessibility features on Thursday that build on the studio’s recent work and address the limited options presented in the earlier PS4 Ratchet & Clank.As an action platformer, Ratchet & Clank often requires multiple types of movement: You’ll shoot through waves of oncoming enemies while running around a level, and quickly shift to jumping across floating platforms, and using various gadgets to fly, swing, and now reality-warp through stages. Rift Apart seems to keep those core mechanics but adds even more potentially sensory-overloading visuals, from... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge CNA Financial, one of the largest US insurance companies, paid $40 million to free itself from a ransomware attack that occurred in March, according to a report from Bloomberg. The hackers reportedly demanded $60 million when negotiations started about a week after some of CNA’s systems were encrypted, and the insurance company paid the lower sum a week later.If the $40 million figure is accurate, CNA’s payout would rank as one of the highest ransomware payouts that we know about, though that’s not for lack of trying by hackers: both Apple and Acer had data that was compromised in separate $50 million ransomware demands earlier this year. It also seems like the hackers are looking for bigger payouts: just this week we saw reports that C... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Slack has added a small but very welcome new feature: when you’re setting a status, you can check a box in that same menu to pause notifications for as long as that status is up.I discovered the checkbox on Thursday while preparing for an interview. When I do interviews or calls, I like to set a status to tell my colleagues what I’m up to and then turn off Slack notifications so I’m not distracted by pings or mentions. Previously, though, pausing notifications required clicking into a second menu — and I’d sometimes forget to turn them off. This new checkbox has the benefit of saving me a bit of time and helping me remember to pause notifications when I need to.Slack tells The Verge that this feature is rolling out now, so you might... Continue reading…

Blizzard’s two-hour Overwatch 2 stream showed off the best look yet at the much-anticipated sequel to the competitive team shooter. And while there’s still no release date, the studio did show off plenty of new information about the game.Chief among those is one of the biggest changes to Overwatch in the game’s history: the sequel will be shifting the default PvP multiplayer mode from six-on-six matches to five-on-five games. Within the current role queuing system, that translates to cutting out a tank character on each team, which will now consist of two support, two DPS, and just a single tank character.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US Treasury Department said Thursday it will require any cryptocurrency transfer worth $10,000 or more to be reported to the IRS. “Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,” the agency said in a new report on tax compliance proposals. “This is why the President’s proposal includes additional resources for the IRS to address the growth of cryptoassets.”The Treasury report said that even though cryptocurrency transactions are a small fraction of business transactions in the US, requiring large crypto transactions to be reported would help “to minimize the incentives and opportunity to shift income out of the new information reporting regime.”The... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple employees are circulating an internal letter calling on Tim Cook to put out a statement supporting the Palestinian people. Nearly 1,000 workers have signed.The writers, who are part of the Apple Muslim Association, specifically ask the company to recognize that “millions of Palestinian people currently suffer under an illegal occupation.”The move comes on the heels of Israel’s deadly bombing campaign in Gaza, which has killed roughly 227 people, including at least 63 children. On Thursday, the Israeli government approved a unilateral cease fire.Members of the Apple Muslim Association — an official employee group — say they were inspired to write the note after the company failed to put out a statement condemning the violence... Continue reading…

Image: Belkin Belkin’s new SoundForm Connect Audio is a $99 dongle that lets you turn any pair of speakers with either a 3.5mm or optical port into an AirPlay 2-compatible setup. In other words, it’s effectively an Apple version of the (now-defunct) Chromecast Audio.As someone who actually likes AirPlay 2, it’s a very interesting concept, especially if you have older speakers or an audio setup that you’d like to get wired into the rest of an AirPlay system.Setup is simple: just plug in the SoundForm Connect Audio to power (over USB-C, thankfully), and then plug in a 3.5mm headphone jack or optical cable from your speaker system’s input port. Image: Belkin Unfortunately, the SoundForm Connect Audio does come with a pretty... Continue reading…

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature in iOS 14.5 doesn’t seem to be a difficult concept to grasp; initial estimates suggest as many as 96 percent of US users are leaping at the chance to tell their apps, “No, you can’t track me across the internet.” Now, Apple is taking a victory lap with a full ad campaign, too, one that turns the feature into a selling point for the iPhone and furthers the attempt to pitch itself as the only tech company you can trust. And, if you ask me, its new ad spot “Tracked” is just about perfect.Just give it a watch above. Who wouldn’t want to Thanos-snap ad trackers into dust? It’s no wonder Google is thinking long and hard about following Apple’s lead with an anti-tracking feature of its own.C... Continue reading…

The PopGrip for MagSafe is bulkier than the regular PopGrips, but is easy to take off. MagSafe PopSockets are finally here, after the famous phone handle company announced they would be coming in January. The PopGrip for MagSafe sells for $30, which is two to three times more expensive than the adhesive versions, but the bigger question that people have been asking since the announcement is whether they’ll be as trustworthy. I decided it was time to find out.The PopGrip for MagSafe is a retractable grip for your phone (as the name implies) that can also work as a stand for watching video or a hands-free video call. PopSockets has made versions of the PopGrip for years now (and if you’ve got a collection of fun design tops, this will still work with those), but they’ve traditionally used an adhesive to attach to your... Continue reading…

Newly leaked renders suggest that Google isn’t playing it safe anymore with its next generation of Pixel devices. | Image: OnLeaks and digit.in New images from reputable leaker OnLeaks (via digit.in) show what may be a bold step forward for Google’s Pixel series. The Pixel 6 Pro, as pictured in the alleged renders, could offer a 6.67-inch curved display and a rear triple-camera array — a Pixel first — including a periscope-style telephoto lens.This report also says that the 6 Pro will use an OLED screen, though there’s no confirmation of refresh rate, and will measure around 163.9 x 75.8 x 8.9mm. It’s expected to offer dual speakers and support wireless charging — features that are both available on the Pixel 5. There are some obvious differences in design, too, with the camera array moved to a raised, horizontal stripe across the back of the device and a bright accent color... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Update May 20th, 2021, 3:44PM ET: The PS5 seems to be out of stock at Walmart, as the retailer hasn’t refreshed its pages in a little more than 10 minutes. We’ll be on the lookout for more opportunities.Sony’s elusive PlayStation 5 console is in stock at Walmart. If you’re one of the many people who has struggled to get one for yourself, today is looking good for you, and it’ll look better if more retailers jump in with stock later today. As usual, Walmart might not immediately appear to be selling consoles today, but you might be able to get one added to your cart if you refresh frequently. (Note: make sure your payment method and shipping address are entered ahead of time on each site before you try to buy a console. The faster you... Continue reading…

A mural in Rome celebrates the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines. | Photo by Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images Our emotional relationship to COVID-19 will drive our transition out of the pandemic Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Slack experienced frustrating issues for many on Thursday, including for some of us here at The Verge. For me, some messages just wouldn’t send. But a little more than an hour after Slack first reported the outage, the company said that the issues were resolved.“We’ve released a fix for this issue, and Slack is up and running once again,” Slack said in a post on its status site at 2:36PM ET. “If you are still experiencing any trouble, please fully quit your Slack app or browser using Command + Q (Mac) or Ctrl + Q (Windows/Linux), and then reopen it.” Slack first posted about the outage at 1:17PM ET.The next time there’s a Slack outage, I highly recommend you cruise Twitter to see the ridiculous memes and GIFs that people post. You... Continue reading…

Image: Ford Ford has revealed its first all-electric F-150, the Lightning, and on paper it looks like a really compelling truck. It’s priced aggressively for an electric vehicle, has plenty of power, and looks to be more capable at towing and hauling than the cheapest gas-powered F-150s.But Ford’s not alone in developing an electric pickup truck — far from it, in fact. There is a slew of electric pickups set to hit the market in the next year and a half or so. Tesla’s polarizing Cybertruck should start rolling off the line at the company’s new Texas factory at the end of 2021 or in early 2022. Rivian — a startup that has raised billions of dollars and is backed by Amazon and Ford — has an electric pickup called the R1T due out this June. And... Continue reading…

Snap’s fourth-generation Spectacles. | Photo: Snap Snap’s new Spectacles glasses are its most ambitious yet. But there’s a big catch: you can’t buy them.On Thursday, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel unveiled the company’s first true augmented reality glasses, technology that he and rivals like Facebook think will one day be as ubiquitous as mobile phones. A demo showed virtual butterflies fluttering over colorful plants and landing in Spiegel’s extended hand.“The next generation of Spectacles can help unlock a new way to use AR hands-free”The new Spectacles have dual waveguide displays capable of superimposing AR effects made with Snapchat’s software tools. The frame features four built-in microphones, two stereo speakers, and a built-in touchpad. Front-facing cameras help the glasses detect... Continue reading…

Snapchat is introducing a new type of augmented reality lens, called “Connected Lenses,” which allows Snapchat users to connect and enjoy an AR experience or game together — even if they’re not in the same physical space.The company is partnering with Lego for its first Connected Lens, which allows users to build a Lego model in augmented reality together, whether that’s in the same room or through the internet from around the world. In the demo video that Snap showed off, both users see the same floating Lego model on a table in their respective homes and can add parts, effects, and animations to the model, which are reflected for both users in real time.The move marks Snap’s latest expansion of augmented reality... Continue reading…

Snap’s forthcoming iOS app Story Studio will allow people to handle more complicated videos edits from their mobile device. | Snap Snap wants to be the company people think of when they go to edit videos on mobile, so during its annual partnership summit today, the company announced a new iOS app that’ll help it achieve that goal: Story Studio. It’ll give people editing tools specifically designed for mobile, or vertical, videos. The app will pull data from Snapchat and its new Spotlight feature, more familiarly recognized as its TikTok competitor, to help people figure out how and what to make.They can look through Snapchat insights, like what’s trending on the app across sounds, hashtags, and lenses. Lenses will be built directly into Story Studio, as well as Snapchat Sounds and stickers, so editors can add those. Of course, like most other video editing apps,... Continue reading…

phone The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously Thursday to lower some of the rates incarcerated people and their families pay to speak over the phone. For jurisdictional reasons, the measure only applies to interstate or international calls.The Commission approved a measure that prohibits companies like Global Tel Link and Pay Tel Communications from charging families and incarcerated people more than 12 cents a minute in large prisons and 14 cents a minute in large jails for out-of-state calls. Previously, rates were capped at 21 cents a minute and single conversations could total several dollars. The action also caps international calling services for the first time.“Recognizing the exigent circumstances caused by the... Continue reading…

Rich people are jockeying for a seat on Blue Origin’s first crewed New Shepard mission, bidding as high as $2.8 million for a ten-minute experience at the edge of space.A single seat aboard the New Shepard crew capsule, dubbed the RSS First Step Crew Capsule, went up for auction earlier this month, starting with a sealed bidding round that drew “more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries,” the company said in a statement yesterday. By Wednesday morning, when the auction’s open-bidding phase began, the highest bid was revealed: $1.4 million. It rose to $2.8 million by the afternoon.RSS First Step, a gumdrop-shaped pod with seats for six, is getting set to fly its inaugural crew sometime in the next six months, with one seat reserved... Continue reading…

PUERTO CABEZAS, NICARAGUA - NOVEMBER 16: Palm trees blow by wind as Nicaragua prepares to receive hurricane Iota on November 16, 2020 in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Less than two weeks after being hardly affected by Hurricane Eta, villagers of Puerto Cabezas take precautions before landfall of Iota. | Photo by Maynor Valenzuela/Getty Images The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is shaping up to be busier than average. There’s a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season this year. Up to 20 named storms and as many as 10 hurricanes are expected, according to a forecast published today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They also forecast up to 5 major hurricanes, which have winds reaching 111 mph or higher.Hurricane season officially starts on June 1st. But for the first time this year, NOAA began issuing routine Tropical Weather Outlooks two weeks early. More storms have developed ahead of the official season in recent years, to the point where NOAA and the World Meteorological Organization are considering moving the official start date of the... Continue reading…

Newer, but not quite better Continue reading…

Image: CD Projekt Red Epic Games’ month-long Mega Sale for the Epic Games Store is back, offering a bunch of discounts on hit games, free titles, and $10 Epic Coupons.You can catch a trailer for the sale at the top of this post advertising discounts for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (25 percent off), Cyberpunk 2077 (20 percent off), Detroit: Become Human (30 percent off), and Rage 2 (75 percent off). You can check out more of the games on sale right here on the Epic Games Store.The first free game you can claim is NBA 2K21 — a perfect title if you’re in the mood for some virtual basketball after Wednesday night’s NBA playoffs thriller. The promotion is also well-timed with the NBA jerseys coming to Fortnite, which you can buy starting on Friday, May 21st. NBA... Continue reading…

Cover art from the original TimeSplitters 2 released in 2002. | Image: Free Radical Design TimeSplitters, the acclaimed PS2-era first-person shooter franchise, is being brought back to life by a newly reformed Free Radical Design, publisher Deep Silver announced today. Development is set to commence in the coming months after the new studio is built. The studio, which carries the same name as the original TimeSplitters developer, will be headed by Steve Ellis and David Doak, who founded Free Radical Design in 1999.Deep Silver has been laying the groundwork for a new TimeSplitters game for several years. It acquired the rights to the franchise in 2018, and in 2019 announced that it was working together with series creator Steve Ellis to “help plot the future course for this franchise.” But today’s news, that the company is... Continue reading…

Hot off the heels of the public debut of the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, Ford announced that it will form a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Innovation to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles at scale.The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture called BlueOvalSK that would manufacture batteries in the US. Ford has a preexisting relationship with SK Innovation, which supplies batteries for its Mustang Mach-E SUVs.BlueOvalSKBut now the two companies will plan on making those batteries together. For months, Ford has sought to gain more control over its supply chain as the race to produce more EVs for the growing US market heats up.SK Innovation recently lost a trade secret dispute with... Continue reading…