The Verge

Photo by Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images On Tuesday, Twitch removed graphic video of Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s death, shown during the trial of his alleged murderer Derek Chauvin — the latest test of how Amazon’s live streaming platform handles newsworthy events.Nonprofit news site Unicorn Riot said its Twitch account was suspended during the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is accused of murdering Floyd. Trial witnesses were shown footage of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, an act of apparent police brutality that led to months of protests. That footage apparently ran afoul of Twitch’s guidelines.“A few minutes ago our [Twitch] account was suspended for 30 days for rebroadcasting the #DerekChauvinTrial, which showed the video... Continue reading…

Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa via Getty Images The big boat is no longer stuck. After days of rapt attention from the internet, a non-metaphorical rising tide has indeed lifted all the boats — and particularly, the Evergreen Marine Corporation’s Ever Given cargo ship — reopening the Suez Canal to regular shipping traffic and ensuring that the precious lifeblood of capitalism can continue to flow freely.Naturally, Google is celebrating this simultaneously momentous and absurd moment in human history the only way it knows how: an Easter egg in Google searches for the phrases “Suez Canal” and “Ever Given” that show a tiny parade of cute lil’ emoji boats marching across your screen, just like the (much bigger) boats that can now (less cutely, one presumes) float their way through the... Continue reading…

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Nvidia is launching Resizable BAR support today, a feature of PCI Express that can boost frame rates in certain games by up to 10 percent. Resizable BAR works by unlocking access to the full graphics frame buffer, instead of limiting it to 256MB block reads. This can improve frame rates in games, but it will require a compatible CPU, motherboard BIOS update, and even a VBIOS update for all 30-series desktop GPUs.Nvidia has been working with both AMD and Intel to provide chipset support. AMD’s Zen 3 CPUs are supported, alongside Intel’s 10th Gen processors and the company’s new 11th Gen desktop chips that launch today. You can find Nvidia’s full FAQ on motherboard and VBIOS updates right here.Resizable BAR works the same as AMD’s Smart... Continue reading…

Screenshot via Fortnite News. The newest season of Fortnite, dubbed “Primal,” did two main things: it introduced animals to the island and added a prehistoric theme. So it’s only fitting that the latest update includes a dinosaur.Thanks to a recent patch, raptors now roam the battle royale game, joining other predators like wolves and sharks. They appear to spawn at random, however, so there’s no guarantee you’ll encounter one in a match; I played for more than an hour this morning before I spotted one in the wild.In traditional Fortnite fashion, the news had been teased over the last few days; giant eggs scattered across the island began to crack, hinting that something was in the works. It was reminiscent of previous events like the volcano eruption, Kevin the... Continue reading…

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Intel delivers a speed boost and PCIe 4.0 Continue reading…

Volvo is partnering with self-driving startup Aurora on a new lineup of fully autonomous semi trucks, the companies announced. The trucks will be deployed in North America on highly frequented hub-to-hub routes.The deal between Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Aurora — which was founded by former executives from Google, Tesla, and Uber — is a “long-term partnership spanning several years,” the companies said.“long-term partnership spanning several years”It’s also the latest partnership between a major OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and an autonomous technology startup, as the industry continues to slowly inch toward a future with more fully driverless passenger vehicles and trucks on the road.Aurora has been testing its... Continue reading…

One of the last visuals from SpaceX’s SN11 before it exploded. | SpaceX Another Starship prototype exploded Tuesday morning during an attempt to nail a tricky landing technique at SpaceX’s test launch facilities in Texas. The landing attempt followed a clean liftoff and a demonstration of the rocket’s autonomous in-flight maneuvers, marking SpaceX’s fourth high-altitude flight since December.The SN11 rocket launched at 9AM ET in foggy weather at SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas facilities, soaring roughly 6.2 miles to test the rocket’s three Raptor engines and a number of in-flight maneuvers that steer it back to land. As SN11 neared peak altitude, the engines gradually shut down to begin its free-fall back toward the ground before executing a “landing burn” — when one Raptor reignites to carry the rocket gently... Continue reading…

The Mi Mix Fold pairs a folding screen on the inside with a smaller outer display. | Image: Xiaomi Xiaomi has resurrected its Mi Mix series with the Mi Mix Fold, the company’s first commercial folding phone. Unlike previous outlandish Mix devices and concepts from the company, the Mi Mix Fold is a pretty conventional folding phone that uses a big-screen-on-the-inside/small-screen-on-the-outside design similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series and Huawei’s new Mate X2.The inner screen is an 8.01-inch 4:3 OLED panel with 2480x1860 resolution, a standard display brightness of 600 nits (900 peak), and support for Dolby Vision HDR. Xiaomi says the display is able to withstand being folded 200,000 times. The outer screen is 6.52-inches with a 90Hz refresh rate. Xiaomi is making big claims about the Mi Mix Fold’s audio capabilities, with... Continue reading…

Lyft and Motional have selected the Hyundai Ioniq 5 for their forthcoming autonomous ride-hailing service. Motional, which is a joint venture between Aptiv and Hyundai, said the Ioniq 5 was chosen because it represents a “convergence of mobility’s two most transformative technologies — electrification and autonomy.”Motional hasn’t said how many vehicles it would acquire, nor where it will eventually deploy them for its robotaxi service. The company is currently testing its fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans in Las Vegas, where it is also running an autonomous ride-hailing service with Lyft.The Ioniq 5 was first unveiled by Hyundai last month, and won’t go on sale until later this year. Also, the vehicle won’t hit public roads as part... Continue reading…

Bang & Olufsen Bang & Olufsen has announced Beoplay Portal, its first wireless gaming headset. The product maintains the company’s signature sophisticated look, and it has more features than your average headset.These were created with the Xbox ecosystem in mind, and with a push of its pairing button, they can connect to the Series X, Series S, Xbox One, or to a PC that has the Xbox Wireless adapter plugged into it. Additionally, they support a concurrent connection via Bluetooth 5.1 for other devices (including other consoles if you supply the Bluetooth adapter). This way, you can take calls without totally detaching from game audio.Similar to the Bose QC35 gaming headset that released last year, the Beoplay Portal look like high-end wireless... Continue reading…

VSS Imagine | Virgin Galactic Richard Branson’s space tourism firm Virgin Galactic is unveiling a new space plane dubbed VSS Imagine on Tuesday, the first SpaceShip III addition to the company’s growing fleet of suborbital vehicles. It’s a shiny, chrome-colored ship designed for quicker reuse than SpaceShipTwo, the current centerpiece of the company’s effort to kickstart its space tourism business in 2022.“Imagine will be the first of our SpaceShip III’s to come join the fleet,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier tells The Verge. “It will be followed up by Inspire, which we’re pivoting our manufacturing now.”Functionally, SpaceShip III is the same as the company’s SpaceShipTwo, dubbed VSS Unity. But SpaceShip III is designed in a “modular fashion” that will... Continue reading…

Images: Lexus Lexus’ next generation looks a lot like what we have now Continue reading…

Image: PayPal We already knew that PayPal was planning to support cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. And now, the online payment app announced US customers can do just that with its “Checkout with Crypto” feature, rolling out today.After rolling out the ability for US users to directly buy and sell cryptocurrency directly from their accounts last November, PayPal’s new “Checkout with Crypto” allows users to instantly convert their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash to US dollars (with no additional transaction fees) that PayPal then uses to complete the transaction. If a merchant doesn’t take US dollars, PayPal also converts those dollars into local currency at standard conversion rates set by PayPal. PayPal will... Continue reading…

Google is announcing a bunch of new features planned for Google Maps, including a new tool to help with indoor navigation and suggestions for eco-friendly driving routes. The features announced today aren’t rolling out all at once, though; many aren’t available just yet, and it’s unclear when some will be available in some parts of the world.One of the biggest announcements is that Google is bringing its Live View augmented reality directions to airports, transit stations, and malls. Live View directions let you hold your phone up, point your camera at the world around you, and see arrows and icons pointing you where you need to go, and previously, they only worked outdoors.Disappointingly, though, these indoor AR directions aren’t... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Autonomous shuttle startup Optimus Ride and power sports vehicle manufacturer Polaris are teaming up to co-develop a new lineup of vehicles that will be low-speed, electric, and self-driving.These low-speed vehicles (LSV) will be equipped with Optimus Ride’s full stack of sensors and software to enable “fully autonomous” driving without a safety driver behind the wheel — though the vehicles will also be monitored remotely by a team of engineers who can offer suggestions to the vehicle when things go wrong.The vehicles, which can seat six, will be deployed as a last-mile transportation service in residential communities, corporate and academic campuses, and other “localized environments,” as both a fixed-route shuttle and a more... Continue reading…

The prototype Leica camera. | Image: Leitz Photographica Auction A rare prototype of a Leica camera crafted by former Apple luminary Jony Ive and famed designer Marc Newson is being sold at auction in June. The device, which is described as being in “B+” condition, has a starting price of €100.000 (around $118,000), and the Leitz Photographica Auction house estimates that it’ll sell for between €200.000 and €250.000 (around $235,000 to $295,000).The prototype was produced during the development of the one-off Leica M for (RED) camera, which was sold at a charity auction in 2013 for $1.8 million. While the final product’s design shared a lot of similarities with Apple’s “cheesegrater” Mac Pro, this prototype appears to have a smooth reflective finish that looks like an absolute fingerprint magnet. ... Continue reading…

The Tab A7 Lite. | Image: Evan Blass / Voice Images of Samsung’s unannounced Tab A7 Lite tablet have leaked, courtesy of Evan Blass on Voice. The images show a decidedly budget-looking device, with a single rear camera and no flash. Internally the tablet is said to be running a modest MediaTek Helio P22T processor paired with 3GB of RAM and a 5,100 mAh battery.The Tab A7 Lite is one of two “Lite” tablets Samsung is expected to launch in June, if a February leak from WalkingCat is to be believed. The other is the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite, which features a bigger 12.4-inch display compared to 8.7-inches on the A7 Lite, according to WalkingCat. GalaxyClub.nl previously reported the S7 Lite may be available with 5G or Wi-Fi-only connectivity, and that it could be powered by a Snapdragon... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge When you typically think of luxury car features, do you envision rich leather seating and extravagant trim? Advanced cruise control and intelligent self-parking? Whatever you’re imagining, I’m betting “dim my headlights so I don’t blind other people” isn’t it.But not only has BMW used its “High Beam Assistant” as an upsell for well over a decade, it’s also charging drivers extra to unlock the safety feature that’s already built into their cars — by buying it as an over-the-air software update.Apparently, this has been going on for nearly two years, but Car Magazine editor Jake Groves brought it to my attention for the first time this week in this viral tweet:

Photo by Gokturk-1 Observation Satellite/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The massive cargo ship Ever Given has been stuck for nearly a week in the Suez Canal, captivating the internet and frustrating the teams responsible for dislodging it and the governments hardest hit by the shutdown of the maritime trade route.The ship (and its trademark “Evergreen” lettering painted on the side) has become so iconic, in fact, that it’s become a destination within Microsoft Flight Simulator, at least for one virtual pilot who appears to have created a mod that places the grounded vessel within the virtual Earth of the game, via GeekWire.Twitter user Mat Velloso shared a video from TikTok, originally captured and uploaded by user “donut_enforcement,” showing off the the flyby of the cargo ship to a convincing-sounding... Continue reading…

Netflix I had to take a break from streaming Hannibal because I’m about halfway through season 3 and I don’t want it to end (also it’s just too intense for a binge watch, let’s be real). But I just watched the first episode of The Irregulars — loosely based on the Baker Street Irregulars from the Sherlock Holmes books— and so far it’s really good, especially if you are like me and appreciate seeing an established story retold from the point of view of another character (or in this case characters).A good batch of trailers this week, with that James Gunn movie everyone’s talking about and a Netflix flick about a group of astronauts headed to Mars who — surprise!— have an extra person aboard their ship.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge For the last seven weeks, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, have been voting by mail on whether to unionize. Their ballots are due on Monday, March 29th, and counting will begin the next day. If the union wins, the warehouse employees would become the first members of Amazon’s US workforce to unionize, a momentous event at a company that has long aggressively resisted labor organizing, and one that could be a first step toward improving conditions at the country’s second-largest employer. Here is what’s happened so far and what might happen next.Who’s voting?The vote is taking place at an Amazon warehouse called BHM1 in Bessemer, Alabama, outside Birmingham. It opened recently, beginning operations last March, but... Continue reading…

Ludwig on stream during his weeks-long subathon. | Image: Ludwig On Friday, the Twitch streamer Ludwig slept in. He got up around 11AM PT and lay in bed, chatting with the more than 30,000 viewers of his stream. He’s spent a lot of time in that spot lately — in fact, he’s broadcast dozens of hours of himself curled up in a bright red race car bed since his stream first started.As of this morning, Sunday, March 28th, Ludwig’s stream has now been live for nearly two weeks straight. His stream started around 2PM PT on Sunday, March 14th, according to The New York Times. The plan was to stream 20 seconds for every new subscription purchased to his channel (subscriptions are $5 per month).It’s a bit like a telethon — he won’t stop so long as the money kept coming in. “We’re making this like a goddamn... Continue reading…

One of the things that makes Animal Crossing so special is it’s soothing. There aren’t a lot of other games like it; it’s laid-back and comforting in a way that most games aren’t. Sometimes it can feel less like a game and more like a relaxing space to hang out in. But now that New Horizons has been out for more than a year, you may be looking for something just a little different. Cozy Grove might be just the thing: it has much of what makes Animal Crossing so great but in a tighter package. Also, there are lots of ghosts.Much like New Horizons, Cozy Grove drops you on a seemingly uninhabited island with the goal of turning it into a bustling town. The difference is that in Cozy Grove, the island used to be inhabited. And it still kind... Continue reading…

A business laptop with an extreme screen Continue reading…

Comic-Con won’t be hosting its regular in-person annual gathering this summer, as the organization behind the cosplay and fan gathering cancel the event for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But there is now an in-person event on the books for the fall to compliment the limited online versions the organization is hosting in the coming months.Comic-Con International, the non-profit in charge of running the event and its companion conventions, announced on Saturday that it plans to hold a three-day, in-person event in November. It will take place in San Diego, where Comic-Con typically holds its biggest annual summer event at the city’s convention center. Yet it’s not known right now what the size or scope of the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A lawsuit that claims one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers in California failed to provide required meal breaks for employees has moved to federal court, as attorneys seek class-action status. First filed in San Francisco County Superior Court in February, the case was removed to US District Court California, Northern District on Friday.Lovenia Scott, a former employee of the Vacaville, California warehouse, alleges that the company didn’t schedule the required 30-minute meal breaks for workers. When they did get their meal breaks, workers were expected to monitor their walkie-talkies in case of any problems on the floor, which sometimes cut into their break time, the suit claims.The matter of paying workers for time they spend waiting... Continue reading…

Stellantis Jeep will install EV charging stations at off-road trailheads across the US as part of a partnership with Electrify America, the company announced. Chargers on the Jeep 4xe Charging Network will either be solar powered or connected to a power grid.The first of the stations will open this spring in Moab, Utah; the Rubicon Trail in Pollock Pines, California; and Big Bear, California. The chargers will have Level 2 (240 volt) charging, which Jeep notes will fully recharge the 17-kWh battery pack in its Wrangler 4xe in about two hours and provide 49 MPGe and 21 miles of electric range. The chargers will be available free to Jeep 4xe owners via a mobile app, and will be compatible with its future EVs.Over the next year, additional... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Hulu’s Android TV apps can finally stream in 1080p on new Nvidia Shield TV set-top-boxes and Sony Bravia TVs, as spotted by users on Reddit, and written up by Gizmodo, Android Central, and 9to5Google.Users first noticed the change in the “App & Device Info” page in the Hulu app. After updating, the app lists the new max video resolution as “1920 x 1080”. It’s sort of a sneaky way to make the change. Looking at the update description on the Play Store, there’s no mention of it, so it’s possible something changed on Hulu’s server side as well. Image: 9to5Google Hulu’s App & Device Info screen that shows the new max resolution. Gizmodo says it was able to confirm that at least the Nvidia Shield from 2019 and... Continue reading…

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images It’s never been possible to know for sure how many people in the United States are sick with COVID-19 at a particular time. Instead, we combine all of the metrics — the percentage of tests run that come back positive, the number of new cases reported each day, people coming to the emergency room sick with COVID-19 symptoms — to get an estimate. It’s like the story of the blind men and the elephant: experts can feel out the different pieces of information to get a sense of what an outbreak looks like, even when they can’t see it directly.We’ve seen the same elephant emerge over and over again over the past year. First, the percentage of tests that come back positive increases. After a slight lag, hospitalizations start to rise, and then... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix announced at Tokyo’s AnimeJapan 2021 Expo Saturday that it will launch 40 new anime titles in 2021, Bloomberg reported, following the success of its Blood of Zeus series last year.The new series to be released this year include an adaptation of the Japanese manga Record of Ragnarok, set to premiere in June; Yasuke, about an African samurai in feudal-era Japan which will premiere April 29th; and Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, based on the video game franchise. Netflix previously announced its anime series The Way of the Househusband, also based on a Japanese manga series, will debut April 8th. Variety notes that the number of anime titles coming to Netflix this year is nearly double the number of anime series and movies it... Continue reading…

Photo by Carolina Cabral/Getty Images Facebook froze the page of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro for violating its policy against spreading COVID-19 misinformation, the company confirmed Saturday. As first reported by Reuters, Maduro had promoted a “miracle” remedy that he claimed would cure the coronavirus, but those claims have not been supported by the medical community.Facebook also removed a video where Maduro touted Carvativir, a homeopathic remedy extracted from thyme. Maduro has praised the solution in the past as “miracle drops” and a “medical breakthrough.” Doctors in Venezuela have called Maduro’s claims that Carvatavir can treat the coronavirus “dangerous.”This is not the first time Maduro has made false claims about coronavirus treatments on his social... Continue reading…

Image: Vizio Would you believe that it’s Friday already? That means it’s time for this week’s roundup of tech deals that are better than the rest. We comb through hundreds of deals from a variety of retailers each week, picking only the best sales to tell you about. By the time Friday comes around, some of them have usually expired, but we’ve included the good ones that are still happening below.Enjoy the weather this weekend if it’s starting to get nice outside where you live.Save $10 on Super Mario 3D All-Stars before it’s discontinued on March 31stFor reasons only Nintendo can explain, Super Mario 3D All-Stars will no longer be produced after March 31st. Even the digital version of the game will be delisted on the eShop. So if you want the... Continue reading…

Bose’s sporty shades offer good sound, a steady fit, and total awareness Continue reading…

Me, after the ice caps melt. | Image: Gorrilaz Virtual band Gorillaz’s debut album is turning 20 years old today (a fact I’m going to try to immediately forget), and in celebration the group will be carrying out the usual anniversary celebrations: re-releasing albums, selling new merch and, according to NME, selling NFTs.This news has Broken me.At this point, it’s pretty clear that NFTs are a thorny environmental issue — while it can be hard to calculate exactly how bad they are in terms of carbon emissions, the picture is not looking good. In general, upon seeing the torrent of NFT news, it’s been easy to needle people about participating in a marketplace that is doing actual damage to the world: “Okay, Brand, hope this marketing stunt was worth setting the Earth on fire?” Turns... Continue reading…

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb George R.R. Martin, the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series that was turned into HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones, has signed a huge new deal with HBO to make content for the network and HBO Max, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s a five-year deal worth “mid-eight figures,” sources told THR.Although Game of Thrones ended in 2019, HBO owner WarnerMedia has already announced a prequel series, House of the Dragon, based on Martin’s 2019 book Fire and Blood. And there are five projects in development based on the Game of Thrones universe, THR reports. Martin is also developing series for HBO based on the novels Who Fears Death and Roadmarks.My worst fear, though, is that this huge new deal keeps Martin from working on... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge GameStop has sold PC gaming hardware for a while now, including entire gaming laptops, monitors, headphones, mice and speakers, but in the post-stonks era it apparently wants a piece of Best Buy and Newegg’s desktop components business as well. Most prominently, the company has started selling Nvidia RTX 3000 series graphics cards — where by “selling,” I mean engaging in the same sort of barely-there, blink-and-they’re-gone listings as every other purveyor of GPUs.As PC Gamer reports, GameStop made its entire weekly circular ad revolve around PC gaming this week, including several GPUs, motherboards, a power supply, and a case: GameStop’s weekly circular for March 21st-27th. Back in reality, though, GameStop sold... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon received Food and Drug Administration authorization for a COVID-19 test made by its subsidiary STS Lab Holdco, and it plans to use it for its onsite coronavirus testing programs.The test is done using a nasal self swab that can be done either under the supervision of a health care provider or as part of an at-home kit where a patient takes their own sample and mails it to a centralized lab.“Amazon plans to use the Amazon Real-Time RT-PCR Test for Detecting SARS-CoV-2 (Amazon Test) as part of the company’s overall Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) preparedness and response program,” the FDA’s authorization reads.The authorization also describes Amazon’s employee-screening program. Some Amazon employees will be... Continue reading…

The OnePlus 9 gives up a few of the 9 Pro’s features but costs $240 less Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are now certified for use on Verizon’s network, which means Verizon customers will be able to use the phones with the carrier’s 5G network; without certification, the phones would be limited to LTE. The news was announced today by a Verizon representative, but the timeline is a little unclear. OnePlus had said it was working with Verizon, but there were no promises that it would be done by the phone’s launch.The 5G story has been a bit confusing for the OnePlus 9 series phones from the start. Only the Pro model has the ultra-fast mmWave, and at announcement, the phones were only listed as 5G-compatible on T-Mobile’s network. Even with today’s news, that still leaves AT&T customers who buy a OnePlus 9 paying for... Continue reading…

Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images Facebook is planning to start its return to in-person work in May, after over a year of working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced remote work plans near the start of the pandemic that promised around half of his employees could work remotely in the next five to 10 years, but until then, in-person work, at least in a limited capacity, is in the company’s immediate future.Facebook is reopening its offices in the Bay Area — including its Menlo Park headquarters — but limiting capacity at 10 percent to start. The company expects its largest offices to not reach 50 percent capacity until September, Bloomberg writes. In addition to limiting how many people are working in... Continue reading…

Image: Innersloth Among Us’ next big update will add a poop hat to the game. Technically, it’s a “chocolate ice cream” hat.But come on, just look at this picture.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is intensifying its bizarre online public relations strategy of picking increasingly petty fights with sitting US Congress members, with the company’s Amazon News account on Friday shifting targets from Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).“You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them. Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone,” the account tweeted Thursday in response to a critique from Warren that Amazon exploits “loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes.” There’s a growing mountain of evidence pointing out how Amazon pays... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Select titles on HBO Max now have audio descriptions, which are separate audio tracks that describe what’s visually happening on-screen. The option is currently available on the website and mobile apps but not on TV apps.Audio descriptions are useful for people who are blind or visually impaired, as they provide context that isn’t obvious from only hearing dialogue and music. So far, the described shows and movies include Euphoria, His Dark Materials, Generation, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Dunkirk, and more. Image: WarnerMedia HBO Max’s audio description category. There’s now a category in HBO Max that lists all of the currently described shows and movies in one place, though it doesn’t yet show up... Continue reading…

Image: Square Enix Balan Wonderworld, a new game from two of the original creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, is out today. But before you jump into the game, make sure you’ve installed its day one patch. It fixes sequences in a “potential flashing bug” that could present a seizure risk. On Thursday, a video of the game’s final boss fight was uploaded to YouTube, and in it, there are occasional moments where the entire screen is taken over by rapid white flashes without warning.“We have received reports of a photo-sensitive epilepsy risk from a potential flashing bug if playing the game un-patched,” the Balan Wonderworld account said on Twitter. “The Day 1 Patch prevents this issue as well as enhances the overall play experience.”

Volkswagen clarified some new details about the release of the ID Buzz, the electric microbus that we first saw in concept form way back in 2017.In an interview with Car and Driver, VW’s head of commercial vehicles, Carsten Intra, confirmed previous reports that the ID Buzz’s release in the US was delayed from 2022 to 2023. In addition, only the passenger version of the ID Buzz was getting a US-release, while Europe would be seeing both a commercial and passenger version of the van.The commercial version will be VW’s first autonomous vehicleThe entry-level version of the ID Buzz will likely have rear-wheel drive and 200 horsepower, while a more powerful trim level would get all-wheel drive and around 300 horsepower, Car and Driver... Continue reading…

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images Dominion Voting Systems has become the second voting tech company to sue Fox News for airing conspiracy theories about its products. The company sued Fox News for defamation in Delaware state court today, saying the network “endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies” claiming Dominion manipulated votes and rigged the election against former President Donald Trump. It’s requesting $1.6 billion in damages alongside expenses for security and combating a “disinformation campaign.”Dominion’s suit follows a February complaint against Fox from competing company Smartmatic. Both companies allege that, in the months following the 2020 presidential election, several Fox News hosts pushed a false narrative... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Putting off iOS updates for a week or two is generally fine, but it’s probably a good idea to download the latest one, iOS 14.4.2, as soon as you can. It fixes a security flaw that Apple says may have been exploited out in the wild (via MacRumors). The update also applies to iPadOS, so take a couple of minutes out of your day to go to Settings > General > Software Update.According to Apple’s update notes, the security flaw allowed for universal cross-site scripting. In other words, a malicious website or script could gain access to information from other webpages you have open, which isn’t great, especially since Apple says that some sites may be doing this.As I said back in January when Apple released a similar update, this doesn’t... Continue reading…

A view from the International Space Station of an aurora blanketing the northern night sky. | Image: NASA Rival satellite internet companies OneWeb and SpaceX are vying to snag lucrative deals to provide broadband internet to Earth’s northernmost latitudes. OneWeb’s launch of 36 satellites this week inched it closer to its goal of beaming internet into the region by year’s end. SpaceX’s Starlink, which is already providing internet to thousands of consumers through a beta program, is eyeing the same area.Billions of dollars in government funds are on the line for companies that can connect the region. The Arctic is a nearly broadband desert for the US military, and the UK is willing to spend big to connect rural areas to the internet.SpaceX is reportedly eying a chunk of the UK’s new $6.9 billion Project Gigabit program, which aims to... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Volkswagen Group has wrapped a multiyear internal investigation into Dieselgate, and it says it will try to pry compensation from former CEO Martin Winterkorn and former Audi CEO Rupert Stadler to make up for some of the massive financial damages that resulted from the emissions cheating scandal.The law firm Volkswagen hired to perform the investigation covered more than 65 petabytes of data, including some 480 million documents. About 1.6 million of those files were “identified as relevant, screened and reviewed,” the German automaker says. The law firm also performed 1,550 interviews and reviewed files from prosecutorial and judicial proceedings around the world that came as a result of the company’s actions. The internal probe... Continue reading…

As a ‘90s kid, I used to dream of winning the Nickelodeon Super Toy Run — five minutes to fill a Toys R Us shopping cart with anything I liked. I had my route all planned out: stacks of video games, a few choice Lego sets, and then a fill-up at the Nerf aisle.The world is very different right now, of course, but Nerf may have just announced a modern, grown-up version of the dream: it’s hiring a chief TikTok officer to dream up the company’s marketing for three months, giving one lucky influencer $30,000 and “a massive amount of Nerf products” in exchange for helping Hasbro figure out how to entice Gen Z.Oh yeah, this is definitely a marketing stunt. But it’s also a real job on the company’s real career site, and you’ll have to... Continue reading…