The Verge

I’ve avoided many of 2020’s big games because they’re simply too big. Titles like Watch Dogs: Legion and Ghost of Tsushima, with their huge maps and endless quest lists, feel like part-time jobs. But while I appreciate my freed-up nights and weekends, I miss the specific cadence of open-world action games: that distinctive combination of pitched fights and methodical, low-stakes scavenging. And the new virtual reality game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge comes surprisingly close to offering a compromise — or it would, if there were more of it.Galaxy’s Edge was developed by Lucasfilm effects studio ILMxLAB, creator of the Oculus Quest launch title Vader Immortal. Where Vader Immortal was an interactive cinematic roller coaster... Continue reading…

IO Interactive, the developer behind the Hitman series, is working on a James Bond video game, it announced today. The news came with a short teaser today for “Project 007,” a new game coming to “a console and computer screen near you.”The Danish studio is best known for the stealth series Hitman and third-person shooter Kane and Lynch games — arguably the two genres that would best encompass any James Bond story. IO is collaborating with MGM, Eon Productions, and Delphi to create a “wholly original Bond story exclusively as a video game.” The game is currently in active development for “modern systems and platforms.”In a prepared statement, IO CEO Hakan Abrak called it “the most ambitious game in the history of our studio.”IO... Continue reading…

Photo by Simon Stålenhag Simon Stålenhag has been on a roll recently. Earlier this year, Amazon adapted his book Tales from the Loop into a series. Last month, he kickstarted a new book called The Labyrinth. Now, he’s making his directorial debut with the music video for “Geronimo,” a single off of Duvchi’s forthcoming album, This Kind of Ocean, for which he also made the cover art.The video stars a robotic penguin-man (named Hector) playing an antique piano covered in artistic graffiti curiously sitting alone in a scenic quarry. Over the next few minutes, we are treated to a wonderful mix of the evocative visuals Stålenhag is known for and the melodies from Duvchi and singer Nadia Nair, who is featured on the track. The video... Continue reading…

Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched back in March, and since then, brands have jumped into the cozy virtual world to do everything from releasing streetwear to organizing voters. Now, however, Nintendo has decided to implement some rules that restrict some of what companies can do in the game. That includes keeping things family-friendly, not using Animal Crossing as a marketing tool, and, most notably, keeping politics out of the game. You can find the complete rules here.“While our services and products are generally for personal use only, we understand there may be situations in which businesses and organizations would like to use or reference the game in relation to their business,” Nintendo says. “As such, we would like to share... Continue reading…

Intel NUC M15 laptop. The NUC M15 is a premium productivity laptop meant to compete with the XPS and Spectre computers of the world Continue reading…

The Fitbit Sense (pictured) is one of the two smartwatches receiving the new features. | Image: Fitbit Google Assistant support is coming to the Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 thanks to a new update rolling out starting today in the US. Alongside it, Fitbit OS 5.1 also adds new blood oxygen monitoring features, support for audible replies from Alexa, and enhancements to the watches’ calling and messaging features.Both smartwatches already support Amazon’s Alexa, but with the addition of Google Assistant Fitbit says they’re becoming the first smartwatches to offer a built-in choice between the two voice assistants. Support for Google Assistant has been on the cards since the company announced the smartwatches earlier this year. It’s unlikely that these will be the last Fitbit devices to support Google’s voice assistant, given the search... Continue reading…

Image: Nvidia Nvidia is joining its fellow cloud gaming providers in choosing to bypass Apple’s App Store and launching a mobile web app version of its GeForce Now service. Nvidia’s version is available today in beta form, meaning any of the service’s more than 5 million registered users can fire up GeForce Now in mobile Safari on an iPhone or iPad and get playing.Nvidia says it also plans to broaden support for its desktop Chrome-based version of GeForce Now, which currently only works on Chromebooks, to more platforms starting in the first quarter of next year, including Android, Linux, and Mac. GeForce Now is currently primarily distributed via Mac and PC apps, as well as through dedicated apps on Android and its Nvidia Shield streaming box.‘... Continue reading…

The “Wyze Watch 44” features an Apple Watch-esque design. | Image: FCC Budget smart home company Wyze is preparing to release a smartwatch, according to a newly published Federal Communications Commission certification listing spotted by Twitter user @iJRPN. Other than its Apple Watch-esque rounded rectangular design, the “Wyze Watch 44” listing doesn’t reveal too much about the unannounced smartwatch. We’re assuming the “44” in its name refers to it having a 44mm case size, and it appears to feature a set of sensors for heart rate tracking.Although Wyze is best known for its lineup of affordable smart home security cameras, which start at just $19.99 for the Wyze Cam V2, the company has recently been expanding its lineup to include the Wyze Band fitness wearable and even a $199 robot vacuum cleaner with... Continue reading…

Image: Gumroad Gumroad, which helps creators sell products online, is now allowing creators on its platform to offer memberships as an additional source of recurring revenue. With memberships, creators will be able to customize what products and content members will have access to at pricing tiers of their choosing — they can even offer a pay-what-you-want option.By introducing memberships onto Gumroad, the platform’s existing creators won’t have to use another service like Patreon or Substack to offer some kind of membership service. In theory, they’ll now be able to use a single platform for selling one-off products and making recurring revenue through memberships. And memberships aren’t the only way to make ongoing revenue on Gumroad, as the... Continue reading…

The screenshot appears to show a cockpit, complete with an all-important vent. | Image: InnerSloth Among Us developer InnerSloth has used the first post from a newly established Twitter account for the game to tease a new map. “Here’s a special look at the new Among Us map,” the developer tweeted, before hinting that more information would be revealed during The Game Awards on December 10th. Among Us is nominated for two awards at this year’s show, “Best Multiplayer,” and “Best Mobile Game.”The new map is set to be the game’s fourth, joining the three that are already available. Each has a different layout, and have big implications for how matches play out. The new screenshot doesn’t give too many hints about the overall layout of the unannounced map, but shows what appears to be a large cockpit area, complete with a few screens and... Continue reading…

Vivo has announced its new Android-based operating system at its annual developer conference in China. OriginOS is the successor to FuntouchOS and features a complete design overhaul that prioritizes widgets, arranging them in a grid-like layout. The widgets can update themselves with notifications called “nano alerts.”“The genesis of OriginOS centers around three frontiers based on smartphone consumer demands: design, smoothness and convenience,” Vivo says in a statement. “OriginOS repurposes familiar features with new exciting designs to create the ultimate smartphone experience.”Of all the skinned versions of Android out there, Vivo’s FuntouchOS has long been the one most obviously in thrall to iOS, with similar notification design,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is shutting down TVision Home, its IPTV cable service that utilized technology from its 2017 acquisition of Layer3. The service will officially shut down on December 30th, 2020 at 3AM ET, according to an FAQ on the T-Mobile website.TVision Home’s shutdown comes shortly after the November 1st launch of the company’s new live TV streaming service — which, confusingly, also uses the TVision brand. The new TVision works via an app that’s available across many platforms and over a $50 4K Android TV dongle that’s sold by T-Mobile — a far more accessible way to access content than the TVision Home, which required a more traditional set-top box. And while a TVision Home subscription cost $90 per month, the new TVision offers a number... Continue reading…

Image: Bandcamp Bandcamp launched a ticketed live stream service for virtual concerts yesterday called Bandcamp Live. The streaming service lets artists make money from live performances online, and may help some of the independent musicians who favor Bandcamp recoup money lost in canceled tours.Artists will be able to set prices for tickets, notify followers when they go on sale, and offer a virtual merch table. There’s also an optional chat for fans while they watch the show. Any time a purchase is made, it will be announced in the chat.Artists have shifted to live streams to recoup lost ticket sales during the pandemic. Bandcamp is using its existing store as a jumping-off point, by making it easier for artists to set up shows someplace they’re... Continue reading…

One of 2020’s last big blockbusters, Wonder Woman 1984, will simultaneously be released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 25th.A press release from Warner Bros. confirms the film will be available for one month, and premiere in theaters in international markets on December 16th. After the one month period is over, the film will play exclusively in theaters, The Verge has learned at this time. Following that, the film will enter a traditional windowing period. That means it will head to digital retailers like Amazon and iTunes, before likely finding its way back to HBO Max.Unlike Mulan, Wonder Woman 1984 won’t cost anything extra beyond the monthly subscription fee. HBO Max subscribers will have the opportunity to watch the film... Continue reading…

Earlier today, MacRumors reported that it is possible to run any iOS app you have purchased on an M1-based Mac, provided you can get access to the right file. Sure enough, if you’ve purchased or downloaded an app for your iPhone or iPad, it is possible to get it running on an M1-based Mac — I am currently looking at the iOS versions of Dark Sky, Spotify, Slack, Netflix, and Gmail on this MacBook Air.Running some of these apps, it’s fairly clear in some cases why these developers haven’t immediately made them available for the Mac in the Mac App Store. Netflix, for example, is bounded inside a window and can’t be resized or go full screen (but it works, and you can even download videos for offline viewing). Instagram is relatively small... Continue reading…

Google’s Gmail application has been updated for iOS 14 with a new widget — but it’s probably not the kind of Gmail widget you may have been hoping for.Right now, there’s just a single iOS 14 Gmail widget that just does one thing: offer quick links to your inbox, the compose menu, or search. There’s no real preview of your inbox content, no ability to triage mail through archiving or deleting without opening the app, or any way to read an incoming message. The most interactive element is a simple “unread” counter, something that the app icon has already been capable of for years.Part of that is on Google — other email apps, like Spark, have created more robust widgets. But a big part of the blame lies on Apple’s shoulders, with its... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Starting today, YouTube will begin running ads on some creators’ videos, but it won’t give them a portion of the ad revenue because they’re not big enough to be enrolled in its Partner Program.When advertisements run on YouTube videos, those creators typically receive a portion of the revenue through their role in YouTube’s Partner Program. With the new monetization rules, a creator who is not in the partner program “may see ads on some of your videos,” according to an update to the platform’s Terms of Service.Prior to the update, YouTube says these videos only received ads in limited circumstances, like if they were monetized by a record label as part of a copyright claim. The update will mostly affect smaller creators without a... Continue reading…

Star Wars: Squadrons is getting some major additions in the coming months: a new map and ship parts will roll out in an update on November 25th, while a December update will add two brand-new ships — the fan-favorite B-wing and TIE Defender starfighters — to the game. The B-wing will be classified as a bomber-class ship for the New Republic faction, while the TIE Defender will be a fighter-class craft for the Empire. The two ships won’t just replace the existing Y-wing bomber and TIE Fighter ships, though. Per the announcement, “There’s still going to be good reasons to pick a Y-wing over a B-wing or a TIE fighter over a TIE defender and vice versa. It’ll depend on your playstyle and what the situation calls for.”Both... Continue reading…

Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has just revealed her first major product since stepping down back in 2017: a new contact management application for iOS devices called Sunshine Contacts.Sunshine Contacts is the first product from Mayer’s Sunshine startup (previously known as Lumi Labs), and it promises to be “the world’s most advanced, intuitive contact manager.”Sunshine’s goal is to unify and simplify your contacts across Apple’s Contacts app and Gmail, pulling down your data from those sources and combining it with publicly available information. At the same time, the app promises to help organize and clean up your contacts, filling in missing chunks of information, and deleting duplicate entries. Then, it can sync that information... Continue reading…

Félix “xQcOW” Lengyel — former pro Overwatch player and currently one of the top streamers on Twitch — has been temporarily banned from the site for cheating at Twitch Rivals, a site-sponsored tournament series. Lengyel was playing this summer’s breakout smash Fall Guys, when he stream-sniped an opponent live on air and sent them home early. (Stream-sniping is looking at another player’s stream and intentionally griefing them when you happen to queue into a game together.)Lengyel also forfeit his prize money and has been banned from appearing in a Twitch Rivals event for six months.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Google’s version of Chrome that will run natively on Apple’s new Macs with Arm-based processors is now available, according to Mark Chang, a Chrome product manager. Google initially began rolling the new version out Tuesday, but paused the rollout because that version may have crashed unexpectedly.In theory, a native version of the notoriously resource-hungry browser might run more efficiently on Apple’s Arm-based computers. In our reviews of the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini equipped with the new M1 chip, though, we found that the version of Chrome built for Intel chips already runs well on Apple’s new Macs, so hopefully this native version runs even better.You’ll be able to pick which version of Chrome to download from the... Continue reading…

iphone 6s home button stock | Photo: James Vincent/The Verge Apple doesn’t find itself apologizing often, but it’s a big deal when it does — like in 2017, after customers realized the company had been quietly throttling the speed of older iPhones. Apple quickly explained it was designed to protect those phones from aging batteries and offered $29 battery replacements to smooth things over, but lawsuits followed, with the company first agreeing to a $500 million class action settlement earlier this year.Now, the company’s agreed to a second settlement — this time, with 34 US states — that might see the company paying an additional $113 million. The states attorneys general had sued Apple for hiding both the throttling and battery degradation from iPhone owners, arguing that Apple “fully... Continue reading…

Photo by Alexander Kramer for The Verge Saving money on new Apple products is usually out of the question, but the new 13-inch MacBook Pro that has Apple’s powerful M1 silicon is already $50 off at Amazon. Instead of costing $1,299 for the base model with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, you’ll pay $1,250. Yeah, it’s a small discount, and apparently deliveries are currently taking between two to five weeks. Saving $50 might not make it worth the possibly long wait, but this deal’s here in case you want to take advantage of it.You can also save $50 on the upgraded version with 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM in either the space gray or silver colors. It normally costs $1,499, but you can checkout now for $1,450. There’s currently less of a wait for deliveries of this model.... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge More than 200 content moderators at Facebook have signed an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg demanding better COVID-19 protections. They say management has needlessly put their lives at risk by forcing them back into the office, even as full-time employees work from home until July 2021.On October 12th, content moderators working for the third-party contracting firm Accenture in Austin, Texas were asked to return to the office. The company implemented additional cleaning measures and asked employees to wear masks. Despite these efforts, a contractor tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after returning to work, according to The Intercept.Facebook has been under intense pressure to stop the spread of viral misinformation and take down... Continue reading…

Pixelmator Pixelmator has announced Pixelmator Pro 2.0, the newest update to the image-editing software Pixelmator Pro. The app will be available starting tomorrow, November 19th.The big news is that Pixelmator Pro 2.0 will run natively on Macs with Apple’s new M1 chip. Currently, versions of apps that were developed for Intel systems can only run on the new Macs through an emulation layer called Rosetta 2. Other third-party developers, such as Adobe, don’t plan to release the final Arm-native versions of their software until later this year, so photo editors may be relieved to see Pixelmator Pro support so soon after the M1’s launch. (You’ll still be able to run Pixelmator Pro 2.0 on Intel-based Macs as well.)Pixelmator Pro 2.0 also includes... Continue reading…

The cure for the common gaming PC Continue reading…

Image: Google Google has announced new family-oriented updates for Assistant and Fi, which can be potentially useful whether you’ve all been under the same roof for the duration of the pandemic or you’re making plans to visit for the holidays.Assistant’s changes are primarily focused on smart displays like the Nest Hub Max, in which a number of old and new features will be collected in a new section called the “Family Tab.” Image: Google Family Notes “stick” to the main screen of your display. The first new addition is Family Notes, which lets you dictate sticky note-styled messages for to-dos and reminders. The notes “stick” to the main screen of your smart display so that they’re visible to whomever uses the display next.... Continue reading…

Image: Google It will include tap-to-pay, peer-to-peer, personal finance aggregation, customizable deals, and even full banking services Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I.In March 2017, I drove down to the Instagram offices in Menlo Park to meet with founder Kevin Systrom. The subject of the meeting had not been disclosed to me in advance, and when we sat down in a conference room, Systrom had a surprise for me: his team had cloned Snapchat’s popular stories feature and planned to more or less import the design wholesale into Instagram.It was a brazen move, particularly by the standards of American business, but it was undeniably effective: Instagram usage surged dramatically, and Snapchat plateaued. Soon stories started popping up everywhere: Tinder, Google Photos, LinkedIn, and Medium, to name a few. (A recurring joke holds that Excel will someday add stories; at this point, I wouldn’t bet against... Continue reading…

The Breezy One cleaning robot from Build With Robots — shown here very much not in an office. | Image: Build With Robots Airflow is a subject dear to Charlie Strange’s heart. As the facilities director for a Texas facility operated by HVAC manufacturer Goodman, he helps oversee the production of heating, ventilation, and AC units in the world’s fifth-largest factory building — 4.2 million square feet of space, all dedicated to the generation of hot and cold currents and gusts.But when the pandemic forced Goodman to send thousands of workers home, Strange had to consider airflow anew — specifically, how the eddies and flows inside his Texas plant would affect the work of his latest hire: a cleaning robot named Breezy One that trundles around the gargantuan factory, spraying a fine mist of virus-killing disinfectant onto the surfaces. For office managers... Continue reading…

Google debuted a new tool called Tree Canopy Lab in an effort to keep cities like Los Angeles cool by helping them plant more trees. | Image: Google Google unveiled a tool today that could help cities keep their residents cool by mapping out where trees are needed most. Cities tend to be warmer than surrounding areas because buildings and asphalt trap heat. An easy way to cool metropolitan areas down is to plant more trees in neighborhoods where they’re sparse.The hope is that planting new trees in these areas could help cities adapt to a warming worldGoogle’s new Tree Canopy Lab uses aerial imagery and Google’s AI to figure out where every tree is in a city. Tree Canopy Lab puts that information on an interactive map along with additional data on which neighborhoods are more densely populated and are more vulnerable to high temperatures. The hope is that planting new trees in... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge There’s going to be a little more room for Wi-Fi. The Federal Communications Commission voted today to open up a small amount of additional wireless spectrum for unlicensed indoor use, which should help to improve speeds and reduce congestion on 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.The new swath of spectrum (which falls around 5.9GHz) was previously reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications — but since being set aside two decades ago, the auto industry hasn’t done much with it. So now the FCC is taking away a little more than half of the airwaves it reserved and offering them up to the public for use as Wi-Fi. (Despite getting nowhere with this spectrum, the auto industry is nonetheless annoyed that the FCC is taking... Continue reading…

Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images Pfizer and BioNTech said on Wednesday that an updated analysis of the phase 3 clinical trial for their COVID-19 vaccine shows that it is 95 percent effective. They plan to file for authorization with the Food and Drug Administration “within days.”In a press release, the companies said that there were 170 cases of COVID-19 among participants in the trial. Of those cases, 162 were recorded in people who took a placebo, and eight were recorded in people who received the vaccine. Ten cases were severe — and nine of those severe cases occurred in the placebo group. That indicates that the vaccine protects against the deadliest forms of the disease. Moderna, which released data from its trial this week, had similar findings.Pfizer also said... Continue reading…

Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the Boeing 737 Max to fly for the first time since the plane was involved in two deadly crashes within five months of each other. On Wednesday, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson signed an order that paves the way for the troubled aircraft to return to commercial service.The Boeing 737 Max has been grounded since March 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed a total of 346 passengers and crew members. Boeing continued to manufacture the airplane, but in December 2019, the company announced plans to halt production at its Renton, Washington manufacturing plant. Production resumed in May 2020 but at a much lower rate and with a renewed focus on workplace safety and quality.The FAA says... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Epic Games and Spotify, united in their fight against Apple, each released statements on Wednesday slamming the iPhone maker following news of its new App Store fee reduction for developers making less than $1 million per year.The cut should apply to an estimated 98 percent of iOS app developers that generated just 5 percent of the App Store’s revenue last year, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. But those ineligible include Epic, Spotify, and scores of larger app makers that have, in recent months, voiced increasing concern over how Apple manages the App Store and the rules it imposes on developers.Apple announced the cut earlier today as part of a new small business program launching on January 1st, casting the move as a way... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge OnePlus has been on a roll with early Black Friday deals, and today’s might be the most appealing yet if you don’t want to spend a lot. In fact, you’ll only need $1 for these. OnePlus is offering four opportunities to score its OnePlus Buds or the Bullets Wireless Z for just a buck. Click the link above, then scroll down to see the deals.Starting at 11AM ET, the company will release a limited number of OnePlus Buds for $1 (normally $79). Whether those units sell out or not, at 12PM ET, it will alternate to the Bullets Wireless Z for $1 (normally $50). At 1PM ET, the cycle will restart with OnePlus Buds, then at 2PM ET, you’ll have your final shot to get the Bullets Wireless Z.OnePlus hasn’t shared whether one person can get $1 earbuds... Continue reading…

A worthy RTX 3080 competitor for gaming Continue reading…

A prequel that goes in a different direction Continue reading…

Pokémon Go will add seasons, a new level cap, and pokémon from the series’s Kalos region as part of its biggest update to date, Niantic announced today. The “Go Beyond” update, releasing November 30th, will allow trainers to advance to level 50, in addition to new content.Upcoming changes to the game include seasons — three-month periods during which players will run into different pokémon and events. These will be tied to the season they take place in and span everything from eggs to Mega-Evolved pokémon. The game will also take into account which hemisphere players are located in to dictate summer vs. winter-themed finds, for example. The first, “Season of Celebration,” kicks off December 1st and will feature several in-game events... Continue reading…

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images After months of mounting case counts and strained hospital capacity, the past two weeks have brought us some overdue good news in our struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. Both Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna have announced unexpectedly promising results for their COVID-19 vaccine, which — if they get the FDA’s signoff — could be ready for public use next year. For the first time since the pandemic began, it feels like we have a clear path to returning to everyday life.If they are authorized, getting those vaccines out to the general US public will require a huge federal effort, one that is already getting caught in the chaos of the outgoing Trump administration. Two weeks after Election Day, President Trump has yet to acknowledge that... Continue reading…

The Lumi is currently selling as a $299 bundle, which includes a carrying case and discounted subscription for extra content like songs and lessons. | Image: Roli Piano lessons for me as a child meant sitting down every Tuesday at a shiny black Yamaha upright, looking up at shelves laden with tributes to my piano teacher’s twin obsessions: busts of classical greats like Beethoven and Chopin, and copies of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, to which he contributed every year. I’d sit and play; he’d sit and criticize. And over the course of a torturous six-year education, my teacher, Mr Dyson, instilled in my grumpy teenage self a love of music I can never adequately thank him for. I did my grades, paid my dues, and I’ve played more or less ever since.All this is perhaps why the Lumi keyboard — the slickest, most intriguing piece of musical hardware I’ve come across in recent years — appalls and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Earlier this year, YouTube started adding “information panels” to videos and searches about COVID-19, directing viewers to authoritative sources in an attempt to combat misinformation about the disease. Now, as work on a COVID-19 vaccine begins to show early results, the company is tweaking this panel to also link to info about vaccination.It’s a small change to what is already a small intervention in the battle against online misinformation. For relevant videos, the panel will now prompt viewers to “learn about vaccine progress,” linking to sources like the CDC and WHO. The panels have already begun appearing in searches and under videos in the US, reports CNET, and should be rolling out globally in the next couple of days. ... Continue reading…

Soon, you’ll be able to see your friends while you play Fortnite together online. Epic is adding a new video chat feature to the battle royale game, where players can see livefeeds of their friends inside the game. It’s launching today, though initially, the feature will only be available on PC, PS4, and PS5.The feature is powered by Houseparty, a chat app that Epic acquired last year. (Houseparty has powered Fortnite’s cross-platform voice chat since last September.) In order to utilize it, you’ll need to link your Epic and Houseparty accounts; after that’s done, you can enable a “Fortnite mode” in the app. When this happens, you can create a party of friends, and their livefeeds will be displayed on the left-hand side of the screen as... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge On Wednesday, Apple announced a reduction to its longstanding App Store commission rate, one of the most substantial changes to how iOS developers earn money in the history of the iPhone maker’s digital app marketplace, as part of a new program for small businesses. The new App Store Small Business Program, as it’s called, will allow any developer who earns less than $1 million in annual sales per year from all of their apps to qualify for a reduced App Store cut of 15 percent, half of Apple’s standard 30 percent fee, on all paid app revenue and in-app purchases.The company says the “vast majority” of iOS app developers should be able to access the program, but Apple declined to say what percentage of its more than 28 million... Continue reading…

Google’s preset “chimeras” show off the potential of AI-assisted drawing. | Image: Google To quote Google CEO Sundar Pichai: AI is “more profound than fire or electricity.”To back up this claim with incontrovertible evidence: here’s an AI tool made by Google researchers that turns doodles into weird monsters. What could be more profound?It’s certainly fun, anyway. The tool is called Chimera Painter and uses machine learning to generate imagery based on users’ rough sketches. This sort of dynamic is becoming a relatively common one in machine learning. Nvidia has done it with landscapes before; MIT and IBM did it with buildings; and now Google is ... doing it with monsters.The team behind Chimera Painter explained their methods and motivations in a blog post, saying the idea was to create a “paintbrush that acted less like... Continue reading…

Sony’s PS5 marketing stunt. | Sony UK Sony has taken over Oxford Circus Tube station in London to mark the launch of the PS5 in the UK. The marketing stunt will last for 48 hours at Oxford Circus, and sees the Tube station rebranded with PlayStation shapes throughout. The walls of the tube station have changed, alongside the decorative roundels for the four station entrances at street level.These four entrances have the PlayStation shapes you’ll find on the PS5’s DualSense controller. Each one is just a few steps away from Microsoft’s big London store, too. The Tube rebranding also extends across London. Mile End station is now being rebranded Miles End, in a nod to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Lancaster Gate is being rebranded Ratchet and Clankaster Gate, Seven... Continue reading…

Not to be outdone by manufacturers gunning to make the lightest gaming mouse out there (like the recent 66-gram SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless), Logitech’s new G Pro X Superlight weighs less than 63 grams without the need for holes. Most other manufacturers are punching honeycomb-shaped hole patterns out of their mice to achieve lighter weights, while Logitech’s latest is simple and smooth all over. In fact, it actually weighs about 63 grams, but if you remove the magnetic plate on the bottom that covers the USB wireless receiver, the weight goes down to 60 grams. The G Pro X Superlight will go on sale on December 3rd.The Superlight is a lighter version of Logitech’s popular $130 G Pro Wireless, which weighs 80 grams — and if you haven’t... Continue reading…

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Apple has updated its store listing for the still-unreleased MagSafe Duo charger with some more information on how the accessory will perform with various power adapters. As noted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the Duo charges at up to 11W with a 20W USB-C adapter, maxing out at 14W with an adapter that’s 27W or higher.That means that when paired with Apple’s $19 20W adapter, the company’s cheapest option for USB-C charging, the MagSafe Duo can’t deliver as much power to the iPhone 12 as the 15W solo MagSafe charger. It also means that the fastest possible 14W option can’t match the regular MagSafe puck, either — and Apple’s best option for that will be the $49 30W adapter that’s packaged with the MacBook Air.At $129, the MagSafe Duo was... Continue reading…

Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call President Donald Trump announced the firing of the official in charge of election cybersecurity, Christopher Krebs, in a Tuesday evening tweet. Before his firing, Krebs served as the first director of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) after leading Microsoft’s policy work on cybersecurity and technology issues, according to his CISA bio.In a Twitter response to being fired, Krebs said “Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomorrow,” in a call to protect the 2020 election.Although the presidential election was widely called for Joe Biden on November 7th, Trump has not conceded, and he and his allies have made numerous claims about supposed election... Continue reading…

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit on September 23, 2019 in New York City. | Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images The United Kingdom will ban the sale of new combustion-engine vehicles by 2030, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today. It will also ban the sale of new hybrid cars by 2035. Johnson made the announcement tonight as part of a new ten-point plan for a “green industrial revolution.”This is the second time Johnson has moved up the deadline. The original plan was to stop sales of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040. Back in February, Johnson moved the target to 2035. He’s come under increasing pressure to crack down on gas-guzzling cars in order to meet the UK’s broader goal of eliminating emissions contributing to climate change by 2050.“Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, the UK is... Continue reading…