The Verge

Photo by Alexander Kramer for The Verge Apple just yesterday released its latest update for macOS Big Sur with improved Bluetooth reliability and a handful of bug fixes. And today, it’s rolling out the first beta of macOS Big Sur 11.3, which will bring further refinements to Safari, Reminders, Apple Music, Apple News, and other apps. This update will also try to improve the experience of running iPhone and iPad apps on M1 Macs, which can still be a little awkward at this early stage (and without a touchscreen display).iPadOS apps will now appear larger than before — if your screen size allows for it — and beta testers will find a new preference pane for iPhone and iPad apps that’ll let them better personalize the “touch alternatives” keyboard commands. Touch alternatives... Continue reading…

SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype launched on Tuesday, soaring miles above its South Texas facilities in a successful flight demonstration before exploding during the landing attempt. It’s the second failed landing in a row, after a previous prototype, SN8, launched and failed to stick the landing in December.This week’s launch demo — one of many in the books already — follows weeks of tension between SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration, which approves test launches like this one. During its high-altitude test launch with SN8 two months ago, the company violated its FAA launch license. This triggered an investigation that held up today’s SN9 flight and frustrated SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, The Verge reported last week.SpaceX... Continue reading…

Apple’s rocky rollout of iCloud password sync on Windows has hit another bump: you can no longer download the version of the app that allowed syncing passwords from your Apple devices with your Chrome web browser on a Windows PC (via Windows Central). Version 12 of Apple’s iCloud for Windows app released last week with supposed support for the feature, but the Chrome extension to make it work wasn’t available until two days ago. Now, version 12 is gone from the Windows Store, with version 11.6 taking its place.Weirdly, the changelog on the Windows Store still says that the password syncing functionality is present. However, upon downloading, the app shows the version as 11.6 in the top right. We verified this for ourselves, and you can... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram is disabling the ability to share (and reshare) posts from your feed to stories as part of a test to see how it changes engagement with the popular feature. The company announced the change in a notification banner sent to users in “select countries” where the test is being conducted, Social Media Today writes. We’ve reached out to Instagram for specifics on exactly which countries are participating and will update if we hear more.“We hear from our community that they want to see fewer posts in Stories,” the notification starts. “During this test, you won’t be able to add a feed post to your Story.” Resharing posts to stories is a fairly common practice, though it does create situations where you’ll see a post in your feed and... Continue reading…

It can be difficult to figure out how you’re coming across in a videoconference, especially if you want to make sure everything works before you start the meeting. How is your lighting? Are you sitting too close or too far from the camera? Is your audio okay, are you accidentally muted, or do you sound as if you’re in an echo chamber?Google has now made it easier to check your appearance and your tech before a Meet conference with its new “green room” feature (via 9to5Google). When you start or prepare to join a meeting, in the usual “Ready to join?” window that first appears, you will now also see a small button below your video that says “Check your audio and video.” Just click on that button, and a pop-up window will not only show... Continue reading…

Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch very soon. Today, EA announced that the portable version of its sci-fi battle royale will debut on Nintendo’s tablet on March 9th.Chad Grenier, Apex’s game director, says the new version will include “cross-platform play, our latest seasonal content, and full feature parity with the other versions of the game.” Apex Legends originally launched in early 2019, and a Switch version was announced last June. It’s developed by Respawn, the studio behind games like Titanfall and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.The Switch version launches not long after the game’s eighth season, which launches today. To make up for the difference, EA says that “since we’re launching a few weeks after the start of... Continue reading…

It was September 2018, while Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was testifying before Congress for the first time, when sitting lawmakers had their first confrontation with the wild nature of the online right. Nearly 90 minutes after the hearing began, Laura Loomer, a far-right internet celebrity, stood up from the committee audience. “Please help us Mr. President before it is too late,” Loomer yelled, selfie stick in hand.She said something about “censoring” and then something about “shadowbanning,” although it was hard to make out the argument.“What is she trying to say?” Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) asked, before pretending to lead a live auction, imitating an auctioneer’s call to drown out Loomer’s voice and forcing her out the hearing room.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon founder and soon-to-be-former CEO Jeff Bezos is stepping down from his role, making way for Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy to take his place, and the company couldn’t be in better shape financially for the big transition.Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon has kept growing bigger during times that have strained many other businesses. In its Q4 2020 earnings release this afternoon, the company reported net income more than doubling to $7.2 billion for the quarter, compared to $3.3 billion for the same period in 2019. Amazon’s full-year 2020 net sales were up 38 percent, to $386.1 billion.There’s a little more to unpack in these Q4 earnings than one might usually see. For 2020, Amazon shifted its Prime Day shopping... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple and Samsung have been quietly contributing to a new technology to find and seamlessly unlock your car with your phone, without even pulling it out of your pocket — and Tesla may be one of the first with the tech. Tesla is actively working on building UWB into its cars, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission.On September 9th, the company submitted six new “products” for the FCC’s consideration, including two key fobs, a security controller, and a number of “endpoints” that would be installed inside the frame and cabin of a vehicle: According to the FCC documents, at least three of those products explicitly support UWB communication.What’s more, Tesla’s FCC filing is unusual in... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google parent company Alphabet weathered the tail end of 2020 to post better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of the year. But the bigger story is that Alphabet broke out Google Cloud’s sales for the first time ever, revealing an eye-popping $5.6 billion annual loss last year, but a nearly 50 percent jump in revenue (to $13 billion) compared to 2019. And Google Cloud maintained that growth well into the fourth quarter, when the division generated $3.8 billion in sales. That’s a 46 percent jump from the fourth quarter of 2019.Those numbers are notable for a few reasons: Google Cloud lags behind the competition, in particular Microsoft’s Azure platform and Amazon’s dominant Amazon Web Services, the CEO of which was just... Continue reading…

Wikipedia has introduced a Universal Code of Conduct that looks to create a global standard for the site and ensure a “diverse, inclusive, and accessible” community of contributors, continuing its efforts to fight harassment.The formal code of conduct — like many Wikimedia projects — was a crowdsourced project, with over 1,500 volunteers from around the world contributing. It’s intentionally designed to be relatively short and easily comprehensible to users, measuring in at a brisk 1,600 words.Broadly speaking, the new code of conduct is broken down into two categories: positive behavior that’s expected from users, editors, and Wikimedia employees, and unacceptable behavior that the company looks to discourage.Expected behavior... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO and transition to a new position at the company as executive chair of the Amazon board in Q3 2021. Andy Jassy, who currently serves as CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), will replace Bezos as Amazon CEO.“Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else,” commented Bezos in an email announcing the change. “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”Bezos is stepping back to better focus on projects like the Bezos Earth... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge HarmonyOS is Huawei’s alternative operating system that was created after the company was banned in the US and lost its Android license. The reality is the operating system is less of a new alternative and more of a slapdash fork of Android 10, according to a new report from Ron Amadeo at Ars Technica.HarmonyOS was initially pitched as a wholly distinct OS from Android and iOS, something that would be just as at home on smart home appliances (like the company’s Honor Vision TV) as it would on smartphones. The announcement was a hopeful promise that losing access to US businesses wouldn’t stop Huawei from innovating, but Amadeo’s experience with the beta highlights some disappointing discoveries:

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Oculus has detailed what’s coming in its v25 software update for Quest and Quest 2 headsets. The most notable change for both developers and users is App Lab, a new method for distributing in-development VR apps that doesn’t require Oculus Store approval and also doesn’t require sideloading. Think of this software as the equivalent of early access for VR.Oculus shared in its press release that it wants to keep the bar for quality high for its store, so it’s splintering off App Lab apps from its main storefront. But it wants to foster a community where developers can openly and easily share their in-progress creations with Quest owners.Something like App Lab has been long awaitedAfter a developer submits their App Lab app to Oculus,... Continue reading…

The unusual LG Wing is one of only a few devices approved to use C-band 5G so far. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge LG Wing and Pixel 5 owners have something to look forward to: the Federal Communications Commission has approved these devices to use faster C-band 5G frequencies, according to a PCMag tipster. The two phones have joined an exclusive company made up of some of the first devices approved to use the new frequencies. Samsung’s Galaxy S21 phones and the iPhone 12 lineup are the only others that currently offer support for these frequencies in the US.C-band will deliver a much-needed speed boost to 5G in the US, particularly for Verizon and AT&T customers. Currently, their nationwide networks rely mostly on slower low-band spectrum. This swath of so-called mid-band frequencies went up for auction at the end of 2020, and US carriers bid a... Continue reading…

The McPlant burger. | Image: McDonald’s McDonald’s new plant-based burger, which the company announced in November, has debuted for a trial run in Denmark and Sweden, according to Bloomberg. Dubbed the McPlant, the burger features a patty made from pea and rice proteins, which was co-developed with Beyond Meat.The trials began in January and will last until March 15th in Sweden and April 12th in Denmark. The McPlant’s Scandinavian success will be evaluated before potentially rolling out to other markets.The patty is cooked on the same grill as beef burgers, so it’s not technically vegan (or vegetarian, depending on your dietary strictness). Nonetheless, a press release from McDonald’s Sweden pitches the McPlant as the latest option for “flexitarians” — people who are... Continue reading…

NCAA Football 14 After being missing in action for years, Electronic Arts announced today that it will be making college football video games again. EA is working with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), a well-known licensing partner for many schools, to secure the use of over 100 teams in the FBS, including the stadiums, mascots, and uniforms used by these institutions.EA Sports College Football is currently in the works and still very early in its development cycle, with no launch window currently revealed yet. More importantly, EA Sports College Football won’t use any real names or players’ likenesses.

Image: Amazon Amazon is no stranger to Super Bowl ads, and the company has another one ready for this year’s big game. The 2021 ad stars actor Michael B. Jordan, who you might know as Erik Killmonger from Black Panther or quarterback Vince Howard from Friday Night Lights, as the company’s Alexa smart assistant.In the ad, a woman dreams of what it would be like if Alexa was personified as the very handsome Jordan, and she’s appropriately smitten with the AI. At one point, for example, the woman asks Alexa to dim the lights, and Jordan takes off his shirt in response. (Her partner then humorously rushes over to demand Alexa turn the lights back up.)The ad is a fun twist on Super Bowl ads that use attractive women to sell something. (Some of Carl’s... Continue reading…

He’s real, he’s here, and I am so happy. The stonks guy is now a five-inch-tall, $30 thing you can buy, complete with a line graph that’s forever up 69 percent. It first debuted last July, but don’t let that stop you.Officially his name is Meme Man, and he’s the wonky former mascot of at least one surrealist meme page, though he began his life as a failed model of a human head over at 4chan’s 3D modeling board. Meme Man, however, has transcended his origins. You probably know him best in his banker config, confidently and wordlessly asserting that the Line Will Go Up and that numbers, by extension, can be trusted. I’m not gonna lie to you: I have never wanted anything so dumb so badly before. Possibly that’s because of... Continue reading…

Instagram Instagram is making it easier to bring back deleted posts. The company is rolling out a “recently deleted” feature in the app that’ll allow you to review content you’ve deleted, including photos, videos, reels, IGTV videos, and stories, and restore them. Instagram is positioning this feature as helpful against hacks, particularly if hackers gain control of an account and start deleting content. Starting today, users will need to confirm they’re the account owner through either text or email in order to permanently delete or restore content.Deleted items will stay in the folder for 30 days, and if not touched, they will automatically delete after that point. Deleted stories are the exception, however: they will only stay in the recently... Continue reading…

Millions is a new startup with a big promise: simply pick six numbers on its website, follow the @Millions Twitter account, and you could win $1 million.It’s not some kind of scam, either: it’s being funded by same big names, like Biz Stone (one of the co-founders of Twitter), Joey Zwillinger (an Allbirds co-founder), Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal (co-founders and CEOs of Warby Parker), Jeff Raider (who helped found both Warby Parker and Harry’s), and Daniel Greenberg (who helped found the viral internet firm MSCHF) among others. And the company — whose actual team is staying anonymous for now — is going to do 10 lottery drawings for the big $1 million prize.It sounds too good to be true. A free million-dollar giveaway being run by... Continue reading…

When the enhanced remake of the Mass Effect trilogy arrives, it won’t include multiplayer. According to longtime Mass Effect developer Mac Walters, the team would have had to put in an immense amount of effort to bring the feature to the Legendary Edition. “At some point we had to draw a line,” the project director said in a briefing about the game. “We’ve talked about doing the remaster for some time now, and at least at one point in time everything was on the table.”BioWare introduced multiplayer to the final installment of the trilogy, Mass Effect 3. Although “these aren’t insurmountable challenges,” Walters said, they would have required focus on features outside of the single-player experience: how to incorporate crossplay or what... Continue reading…

Remastering a series like Mass Effect — not quite a full remake of the trilogy, but more substantial than a port — is a thorny task. It requires work on all three games and dozens of downloadable content packs. There are fan expectations, from players who want to see a beloved universe preserved to those who are still salty about how it all ended. As Mac Walters, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition project director, put it: “We talk about it sort of like we were restoring a beautiful, beloved car. But then it quickly turned into sure, if that car had been buried in cement, and every time you tried to clear off some of the cement you were worried about dinging the paint, or ripping off a mirror.”Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, coming May 14th... Continue reading…

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition will stick to a faithful retelling of the game’s story and already-made DLC, with no new narrative elements on the way. Speaking about the enhanced trilogy during a briefing, project director Mac Walters said while the team did consider incorporating new content, ultimately, BioWare decided against it. “Honestly we had looked at, is there stuff on cutting room floors and things like that that we could bring in?” Walters said. “And a lot of times that isn’t really in a state where you can just resurrect it and use it. It actually would require rebuilding from scratch and at that point you’re diverting effort away from the remastering of everything else.”That also applies to hopes that the game might... Continue reading…

Although the Mass Effect trilogy allowed players to create their own Shepard, the game had limited options for making non-white characters. Environment and character director Kevin Meek told The Verge that improving options for people of color was one of its top priorities when it came to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, an upcoming remastered collection. “If you have type 4 hair or a really dark skin tone or if that’s the Shepard you wanted to play as, you just did not really have that option in the original Mass Effect,” Meek said.Legendary Edition packages all three games with all of their corresponding DLC. Although the game won’t add new story content, it does overhaul its graphics and expand some gameplay elements to make them... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon will pay $61.7 million to Flex drivers to settle allegations of stolen tips, after an extensive investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission. The figure represents the total amount of allegedly withheld tips over the two and a half years that Amazon Flex’s controversial base pay system was in place. Amazon also agreed to new restrictions on how it communicates wage information to drivers.“In total, Amazon stole nearly one-third of drivers’ tips to pad its own bottom line,” FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra said in a statement, accusing Amazon of “expanding its business empire by cheating its workers.”Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.“In total, Amazon stole nearly one-third of drivers’ tips to pad its... Continue reading…

The Helix proposal at Amazon’s Arlington, Virginia campus. | Image: Amazon Amazon has unveiled the design for the next portion of its Arlington, Virginia headquarters, and one building stands out far from the rest: a swirling glass tower covered in trees that rises to a point above the rest of the city’s skyline. Amazon calls the building “the Helix” because its corkscrew shape is supposed to take inspiration from “the natural beauty of a double helix.”It also — it must be said — bears a distinct resemblance to the swirling poop emoji, though with some healthier colors mixed in.On the inside, the Helix will be filled with a “variety of alternative work environments” that Amazon employees can use. On the outside, there’ll be two sets of spiraling paths dotted with local plants that you’ll literally be able to... Continue reading…

Uber announced today that it’s buying alcohol delivery service Drizly in a deal worth $1.1 billion, as the ride-sharing company continues to build out its stable of food and other delivery services.The eventual plan is for Drizly’s marketplace of beer, wine, and liquor to be integrated into the existing Uber Eats application, giving Uber users a one-stop shop for both food and drink deliveries. The existing Drizly app will stick around, though.Drizly is effectively an online delivery storefront for existing local liquor stores. The company partners with local sellers and then enlists delivery drivers — similar to Uber Eats — to handle the delivery. The service is now available in over 1,400 cities across the United States.This deal... Continue reading…

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Black Friday 2020 saw many great deals, especially on Eero’s products. If you are looking to improve your Wi-Fi situation at home, Amazon and Best Buy have the Eero 6 mesh router three-pack (which includes one mesh router and two extenders) back down to its Black Friday price of $223, a nice drop from its usual cost of $279.When planning your setup, keep in mind that while the Eero 6 mesh router includes two Ethernet ports, the two Eero 6 extenders that come in this bundle do not include any. Alternatively, you can buy two Eero 6 routers for $206 if you want to wire Ethernet to your routers across different areas in your home. Image: PlayStation PS5 owners can play God of War on PS5 if they own a digital or... Continue reading…

Disney’s latest bundle combining Disney Plus, ad-free Hulu, and ESPN Plus for $18.99 per month is now available. This package was first announced in December 2020, and it actually first started rolling out for new subscribers to Hulu. The news today is that the sign-up page is accessible to more people looking to subscribe. The cheaper bundle that includes Hulu with ads sprinkled in is still available for $12.99 per month.This is a good value for people who’ve been patiently waiting (since Disney Plus launched in late 2019) for a bundle that includes the ad-free version of Hulu. With this one, you’ll save about $6 per month by getting all three of these services. Purchased outside of a bundle, Disney Plus costs $6.99 per month, ESPN... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Users of Comcast’s Internet Essentials plan will be getting a significant speed increase on March 1st. The service, which currently runs at 25Mbps, will be automatically upgraded to 50Mbps without requiring additional fees or action from customers. Upload speeds are also being increased from 3Mbps to 5Mbps. Faster access for the same price should be a relief for many families struggling to adapt to having work, school, and entertainment largely shifted to the internet during the pandemic.The Internet Essentials plan is Comcast’s $9.95 per month (plus tax, of course) internet service provided to qualifying low-income households eligible for assistance from programs like SNAP, Medicaid, or WIC. This is the second time in a year that... Continue reading…

Destruction AllStars is a game about smashing cars. It’s right there, the first word in the title. It’s also a major milestone for the PS5 — a huge exclusive that’s solely on the next-gen console that isn’t a remake or stretching across generations.It’s a title that will, by necessity, be used to showcase what kind of games developers can make when given free rein of the PS5’s new features and firepower. But smashing is still the heart of Destruction AllStars: so much so that the seed of the game was a simple idea. “Imagine how awesome we can make damage on PS5,” John McLaughlin, a senior producer at Sony XDev, tells The Verge.“Imagine how awesome we can make damage on PS5.”It was a short jump from there to partnering with Lucid... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Tesla has agreed to recall more than 134,000 Model S sedans and Model X SUVs that will eventually suffer from faulty displays after pressure from the leading US safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla announced the recall to customers in an email, according to Electrek, and said a software update could allow them to keep accessing crucial features like the backup camera in the meantime if their displays fail.The problem that prompted the recall has to do with the 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device that Tesla used in its massive touchscreen displays on most 2012–2018 Model S sedans and 2016–2018 Model X SUVs. These chips eventually wear out, as Motherboard first reported back in 2019, and when they do,... Continue reading…

Astra’s 3.2 rocket launching from Alaska | John Kraus/Astra Astra plans to become the first small rocket maker to go public, the company announced Tuesday, after reaching space for the first time in December. It’ll become the second publicly traded space venture after Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.The Northern California-based rocket firm’s “3.2” launch vehicle blasted to space for the first time in December from its Kodiak, Alaska launch site, a key test mission that “far exceeded our team’s expectations,” Astra CEO Chris Kemp told reporters at the time. The launch demo, though just barely missing orbit, propelled Astra into a small group of firms that have reached space.The company has 50 customer launches lined up, and over $150 million of contracted launch revenue so far. Now, Astra is... Continue reading…

Mushrooms are helping architects and engineers solve one the world’s biggest crises: climate change. These fungi are durable, biodegradable, and are proving to be a good alternative to more polluting materials.“Our built environment needs these kinds of materials,” says David Benjamin, founding principal architect at the firm The Living. “Different countries have really ambitious climate change goals, and this material could really help jump-start some of that progress.””Our built environment needs these kinds of materials.”Building materials and construction make up about a tenth of global carbon dioxide emissions. That’s way more than the global shipping and aviation industries combined. And the problem is getting worse.Materials... Continue reading…

The Pink Cloud. | Photo: Sundance Institute. Like most recent events, the 2021 edition of the Sundance Film Festival has shifted from an in-person showcase to a virtual one. Despite the change, we’ll still be bringing you reviews on the most interesting experiences we find, from indie films to VR experiments.The Pink Cloud starts with a message that underlines the distressing ludicrousness of where we are: it’s a movie about people stuck in a never-ending quarantine because of a deadly threat outside their doors. It’s also an early prescient one, as it was written in 2017 and filmed in 2019. It has no purposeful connections to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s impossible not to draw parallels between The Pink Cloud and our current reality.The movie is set in a Brazilian city where... Continue reading…

Logitech Logitech sold enough keyboards, mice, and PC webcams during the pandemic that it can afford its first-ever Super Bowl commercial. The 60-second spot, titled “Defy Logic,” will air during the first quarter of the game on February 7th and feature rapper and songwriter Lil Nas X.The documentary-style ad spotlights how artists and other creative types use Logitech products for their work. It shows Lil Nas X writing and recording a song, along with graphic and visual artists; streamers; musicians; and climate, gender equality, and education reform activists demonstrating their Logitech items.In May, Logitech reported sales of its products were booming as the pandemic kept millions of people working and schooling from home. Sales of its... Continue reading…

Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The famed animation studio returns with its first 3D CG movie, Earwig and the Witch Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Cheaters in Call of Duty: Warzone are ruining the game and forcing professional players to abandon it. Game hacks and cheat software are being widely used in the battle royale hit, and it has left the community of millions of players feeling frustrated with the lack of attention from publisher Activision and developer Infinity Ward.Cheating in some of the world’s top PC games has been getting worse over the past year, and aimbots and wallhacks are now increasingly common in the industry’s most competitive shooters. Aimbots automatically lock onto opponents’ heads, making it easy to wipe out waves of players. Wallhacks expose everyone on a map, so cheaters get a huge advantage by knowing where their opponents are at all times. In battle... Continue reading…

Image by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is planning a series of news events over the coming months that will focus on categories like gaming, cloud, and Windows. The Verge has learned that Microsoft is dedicating time to particular categories at a time when the pandemic has halted in-person events. Microsoft’s first event will take place later this week, focusing on what’s next for work and Microsoft 365.The company is planning similar events that focus on what’s next for its cloud ambitions, as well as gaming, Windows, and security in the coming months. Microsoft typically discusses a broad range of its products at events like Ignite or Build, and this will continue, but these separate events are designed to highlight what its product changes mean for entire... Continue reading…

Art: Alex Castro / The Verge Gaming was already popular when the pandemic hit in early 2020; with a large number of people stuck at home, it has become close to a national obsession. So once you have your console or computer, and your game (or games), what more do you need?We asked the staff of The Verge, many of whom are avid gamers, to talk about their favorite gaming gear. Below, we describe game controllers, mice, headsets, and other useful peripherals that can take your gaming experience up that extra notch (or even several notches).Have a great time!Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Photo: Nintendo Nintendo Switch Pro Controller If you have a non-Lite Nintendo Switch, the Pro Controller is a necessary accessory, in my opinion.... Continue reading…

Boston Dynamics will sell an arm to allow the robot to interact with objects in its environment. | Image; Boston Dynamics There’s also new browser based controls and a robotic arm attachment Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge TF Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo has corroborated reports that Apple and Hyundai are working together on an electric car. In a research note quoted by AppleInsider, Kuo says that Apple’s first car will be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform for battery-powered electric vehicles.The E-GMP platform was announced late last year and is expected to be the basis for Hyundai’s electric cars from this year on. Hyundai claims that E-GMP vehicles can theoretically get over 500km (310 miles) in range on a full charge, with the battery able to reach 80 percent capacity in 18 minutes via fast charging — though individual vehicle performance would of course vary based on design.Kuo claims that the first Apple car will be produced together with... Continue reading…

Remedy’s supernatural thriller Control was one of the best games on the previous generation of consoles, but it’s also one that clearly struggled on the hardware. In 2019, when I reviewed the game on a base model PS4, you could feel the action chug along when the action got too intense. It worked, but just barely. (I don’t think any game has made my PS4’s fan quite so loud.) We already know that one of the best things about the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is that they make older games better, whether that’s through backward compatibility or, in the case of next-gen Control: Ultimate Edition, brand-new versions that make use of the hardware. And now that I’ve spent a few hours with Control on the PS5, I can say it really feels like... Continue reading…

Lady Dimitrescu. | Image: Sony If you’ve been following recent news about Resident Evil Village, the next game in the hit horror video game franchise, you may have heard about Lady Dimitrescu, a very tall woman / probably-vampire who has become very popular.Seriously, she’s tall — just look at this GIF from Sony. Lady Dimitrescu towers over the other women / probably-vampires in this scene.A lot of people have wondered exactly how tall Lady Dimitrescu is, apparently, and Kotaku’s Ash Parrish even went to great lengths to estimate that Lady Dimitrescu is 96 inches tall (8 feet). On Monday evening, though, the official Resident Evil Twitter account revealed that Parrish wasn’t even close.If you include her hat and high heels, Lady Dimitrescu officially stands at... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hey, did you hear Elon Musk went on Clubhouse?The media and venture capital worlds were abuzz this weekend in advance of, during, and after Musk’s appearance on the not-quite-year-old audio social network. Musk is not exactly a recluse — he gives interviews more or less regularly to a variety of mainstream outlets, and will sit down with NBC tomorrow — but his arrival on Clubhouse served as validation for the company and the idea of live, interactive audio streaming more generally.Despite beginning at 1AM ET on Monday, Musk’s room quickly hit the Clubhouse cap of 5,000 concurrent listeners — as did one overflow room hosting a broadcast of his appearance, and then another overflow room after that. All day long, hustlers and hucksters... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge After fourteen months, Google has decided it doesn’t want to be a game company anymore. Where once it had its own cloud-based console, controller, and the promise of homegrown triple-A games, it no longer wants to build its own games as of today.And though a Google spokesperson emphasizes that the company continues to “remain committed to Stadia as a platform,” it’s looking increasingly likely that platform won’t be a service where you sign up with Google to buy and rent cloud games.Stadia boss Phil Harrison announced that Google was shutting down the company’s game studios in a memo today, and I think the exact wording of that memo is extremely telling. Go read it for yourself. I’ll wait.Back? Good. Did you see the part about how... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has agreed to pay $2.5 million to more than 5,500 employees and job applicants impacted by alleged systematic pay and hiring discrimination. The US Department of Labor found that female software engineers were being underpaid. It also identified “hiring rate differences that disadvantaged female and Asian applicants” for Google engineering positions.As part of the settlement, Google will hand over $1,353,052 in back pay and interest to 2,565 female engineers. It will also pay $1,232,000 in back pay and interest to 1,757 female engineering applicants and 1,219 Asian engineering applicants for “engineering positions not hired.”The alleged disparities impacted employees at Google offices in Mountain View, Seattle, and Kirkland,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It looks like we’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to movies about the WallStreetBets / GameStop saga: Deadline is reporting that both MGM and Netflix have plans to make one, before the dust has even settled (via Kotaku and Polygon). If you weren't paying attention to the stock-spikes, short squeezes, and diamond hands that were going on last week, we have an explainer that should get you caught up on the big picture.MGM’s version of the movie is set to based as a book that hasn’t yet been written. The author of that book is Ben Mezrich, who wrote The Accidental Billionaires, which was the basis for David Fincher’s 2010 movie The Social Network. Mezrich was apparently inspired by Fincher’s title, as he’s calling his new book The... Continue reading…

Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge Investment app Robinhood has plummeted back down to a one-star rating on Google Play, thanks to a flood of thousands of new negative reviews.The latest low rating comes just days after Google salvaged the app’s rating by removing nearly 100,000 reviews, following a flood of negative ratings after the Robinhood blocked purchases of popular stocks from Reddit’s /r/WallStreetBets like GameStop or AMC last week. Google confirmed to The Verge at the time that it was actively removing negative reviews on the app.The review rollercoaster for Robinhood’s rating has been nearly as up-and-down as GameStop’s stock price. When users began to review bomb the app last Thursday, Robinhood reached a one-star rating with nearly 275,000 reviews. Google... Continue reading…