The Verge

Roku is looking to create its own original “episodic and feature productions,” according to a recent (and now closed) job listing posted by the company (via Protocol). The job listing mentions Roku’s “expanding slate of original content.”Roku currently doesn’t have any in-house content of its own. It now owns Quibi’s lineup of shows, which it acquired from the defunct streaming company, and it also offers The Roku Channel, an ad-supported service that lets users watch a wide range of TV shows, movies, live news, and more — but we haven’t yet seen any shows that are made by Roku itself. The job listing that mentions “original episodic and feature length productions.” The job listing, however, indicates that Roku is... Continue reading…

Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images A freezing winter storm passed through Texas and parts of the Midwest over the weekend, straining parts of the state’s electricity grid to the point of blackouts. But with many Texans struggling to heat their homes, disaster scammers have reportedly been taking advantage of the disaster to try to steal account info.In a tweet on Tuesday, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, warned followers that social media scammers were posing as electricity workers and asking people to text them their private account numbers.“Don’t do it!” the company said in a tweet. “We don’t need any of your info to get your power back on — we are working as fast as we possibly can.”

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is updating its Edge browser with a Kids Mode that should make browsing safer and more customizable, in a kid-friendly way. The feature is not widely available, but it’s being rolled out to Edge Insiders in Microsoft’s Canary test channel, with the feature coming to the dev channel soon after.Kids Mode can be enabled by selecting it from the Profile picker in Microsoft Edge, not dissimilar from using a similar Kids profile in a streaming service. Browsing in Kids Mode enables several features. Kids Mode comes with custom browser themes, Bing SafeSearch enabled to keep kids away from “adult” search results, and an allow list that parents can use to set appropriate websites. The allow list comes predefined in Edge, according to... Continue reading…

Amazon’s open-world MMO, New World, has once again been delayed. The developer now expects the game to launch August 31st. “We’ve been hard at work on compelling end-game features we believe are important to include at launch,” an update on the game’s site reads. “These features won’t be ready for the Spring timeframe that we had communicated.”Development at Amazon has been bumpy. New World has already had its share of criticism as well for its depictions of European colonization. The tentpole game, previously intended for a launch in 2020, was pushed from its August date to spring 2021 last July — its second delay. The news came just days after Amazon-owned studio, Relentless, essentially un-launched its free-to-play shooter Crucible... Continue reading…

Photo by Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images Winter storms paralyzing the United States have left millions without power and sent health officials scrambling to protect freezers full of COVID-19 vaccines, which have to be kept at extremely low temperatures or risk going bad.Rolling blackouts through Texas took out at least one set of freezers full of the Moderna vaccine; 5,000 doses were sent to a university, a jail, and a handful of hospitals before they expired. The Oregon Health Authority is moving vaccines to places with power, although the agency isn’t disclosing which storage sites have their systems down. As part of its storm preparations, Kentucky made sure places holding COVID-19 vaccines had contingency plans.“For each provider they have a generator on site that is... Continue reading…

Inside IBM Research Headquarters IBM plans to get rid of its planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions from its operations by 2030, the company announced today. And unlike some other tech companies that have made splashy environmental commitments lately, IBM’s pledge emphasized the need to prevent emissions rather than developing ways to capture carbon dioxide after it’s released.IBM is pledging to do “all it can across its operations” to stop pollutingThe company committed to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade, pledging to do “all it can across its operations” to stop polluting before it turns to emerging technologies that might be able to capture carbon dioxide after it’s emitted. It plans to rely on renewable energy for 90 percent of... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook addressed false election information with understated warnings like “missing context” rather than more direct flags, research from The Markup suggests — and the company appeared hesitant to label false or misleading statements from now-banned former President Donald Trump.The Markup has released new data from its Citizen Browser, which captures snapshots of what 2,200 volunteers see in their Facebook feeds. Its report covers December and January, two contentious months where then-President Trump falsely claimed victory in the election. Facebook implemented special banners and labeling systems to inform users about election results and fact-check false posts. The Citizen Browser Project offers a window into a seemingly... Continue reading…

Image: Trello Productivity app Trello, a virtual whiteboard-style platform for organizing and managing projects, is announcing a major redesign today in addition to new features for helping businesses manage third-party integrations. The platform is getting a visual overhaul, both to its logo and the illustrations it deploys across its website and apps. It’s also getting multiple new ways to both customize cards and view your workload beyond the core whiteboard column view.“During the pandemic, Trello became many people’s new offices in a remote-first world. The overnight shift to distributed work coupled with the frantic adoption of digital tools led to an exponential increase in digital work artifacts scattered across apps, some of which now... Continue reading…

Microsoft Flight Simulator UK update. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting a big update today focused on the UK and Ireland. The World Update III, as Microsoft puts it, includes high-resolution 3G imagery for cities like London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, and Oxford. More than 70 custom landmarks and points of interest have been improved, including famous bridges, palaces, cathedrals, and famous Premier League football (soccer!) stadiums.If you’ve tried to visit some Premier League clubs in Flight Simulator already, you’ve probably noticed they’re usually just a giant generic-looking apartment block. This update aims to improve that experience with detailed views of exactly where the Premier League is played week in week out. Likewise, Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s... Continue reading…

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge Update February 16th, 11:21AM ET: The bullet list at the bottom now reflects that Asus and Gigabyte have updated all of its product pages with the required information about the RTX 30-series graphics chips its laptops use.Nvidia is now requiring, not just encouraging, companies selling laptops with its new RTX 30-series graphics chips to be more transparent about the kind of power people can expect. Nvidia tells The Verge these companies will have to disclose specific clock speed stats and total graphics power on online product pages — all of which tells people everything they need to know about a laptop’s graphics potential, for better or worse.However, companies won’t have to mention that these chips are Max-Q variants because,... Continue reading…

Image: Sennheiser Sennheiser announced on Tuesday it’s looking for a new partner to buy its consumer audio business, which consists of headphones and soundbars. It’s going to shift its focus entirely to professional audio, including its Neumann microphone division and what Sennheiser calls business communications.In a press release, Sennheiser says it wants to increase visibility in the competitive headphone and soundbar markets, and it thinks its products can be popular amid “strong competitive pressure.” But it needs an investor to make that happen. It also says that talks with potential partners will start soon.“To be best able to exploit the potential in each of these markets, we are concentrating our own resources on the three business areas in... Continue reading…

Today, gaming peripheral brand Corsair is announcing that it has purchased streaming visuals company Visuals by Impulse (VBI), which it’s organizing under its other streaming brand, Elgato. If reading that makes your eyes cross, don’t worry — all it means is that some of the biggest names in streaming technology have come together under Corsair’s roof. Think of the consolidation like a one-stop shop.It’s a smart move on Corsair’s part, too. The company scooped up Elgato — the biggest name in streaming tech — in 2018, and then a year later, it picked up Origin PC, which makes custom prebuilt PCs, and SCUF Gaming, which makes custom professional-grade controllers.This month’s acquisition of VBI means Corsair now has a complete set of... Continue reading…

Image: LastPass LastPass is adding new restrictions to its free subscription tier starting March 16th that’ll only allow users to view and manage passwords on one category of devices: mobile or computer. Mobile users will be limited to iOS and Android phones, iPads, Android tablets, and smartwatches. Computer subscribers will be able to use their passwords from Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops and laptops, the LastPass browser extension, and Windows tablets.Users on LastPass’ free tier will be asked to pick between the two options the first time they log in after March 16th, and the company says they’ll be able to switch between categories up to three times after they’ve picked. Although customers are restricted to a single category of devices on... Continue reading…

2021 is going to be a really big year for electric vehicles. Car-buying experts at Edmunds expect US sales to grow to 2.5 percent from 1.9 percent in 2020. That’s thanks to more options and growing interest from interested consumers.Nearly three dozen EVs from 21 automotive brands are expected to go on sale this year, compared to 17 vehicles from 12 brands in 2020. Notably, this will be the first year that all three major vehicle categories will be represented: there will be 11 electric sedans, 13 SUVs, and six pickup trucks in 2021, whereas only 10 cars and seven SUVs were available last year.We thought we’d zero in on seven different EVs coming out this year and talk about what they tell us about where things are headed in the... Continue reading…

Following in the footsteps of The Mandalorian and Frozen 2, Disney is giving WandaVision a behind-the-scenes documentary that will air on Disney Plus on March 12th.Assembled: The Making of WandaVision is the first in a new series streaming on Disney Plus that will go “behind the scenes of the series and movies of the MCU,” according to the company. A similar documentary is already available to watch on Disney Plus that examines how the Marvel Cinematic Universe came together, providing a more in-depth look at Marvel Entertainment (specifically the comics) in general.For Disney Plus, this is quickly becoming the norm: release a highly anticipated show or movie, and then pair it with an accompanying documentary featurette or series.... Continue reading…

Image: Levi’s The Pokémon franchise is turning 25 this year, and to celebrate, the brand is teaming up for a number of collaborations, from McDonald’s cards to Post Malone concerts. And then there’s Levi’s, which is celebrating the anniversary with a line of Pokémon-branded outfits, led by the standout floral-print Pokémon-themed denim trucker jacket / jeans combo in what might be the finest example of the Canadian tuxedo ever made.The flashy getup is available as separates: a $128 trucker jacket and a pair of $148 jeans, both of which feature a... unique print of various Pokémon characters darting in and out of a floral garden motif. And while Levi’s shows its models rocking half of the set (presumably as an accent piece for a more restrained... Continue reading…

Microsoft is launching a new $99 Xbox Wireless Headset next month. It’s the first wireless Xbox headset since the Xbox 360 days, and it’s designed to connect with Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S consoles, PCs, and mobile devices via Bluetooth.The Xbox Wireless Headset design improves nearly every aspect of the basic Xbox One Stereo and Wired Chat headsets that are currently available. Microsoft has leaned on its work with the Surface Headphones to add similar rotating ear cup dials that let you adjust volume and game / audio chat balance. Image: Microsoft Microsoft’s new Xbox Wireless Headset. This new Xbox Wireless Headset is also designed to match the new Xbox Series X / S design, with a lightweight frame... Continue reading…

Fortnite’s violence-free mode, party royale, will soon be the home of a short film festival. Today, developer Epic announced “Short Nite,” which will feature multiple animated shorts, all broadcast on the virtual island’s big screen. The event will start on February 20th at 2PM ET, and Epic says the entire run will last around 30 minutes, though it will be rebroadcast for 24 hours, ending on February 21st at 2PM ET.Here’s the list of movies you can expect:

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge If you’re hunting for a capable gaming laptop without spending too much, now’s a good time to check out this deal at Dell’s site. It’s offering the Dell G5 15 for $1,099.99 (originally $1,540 for this configuration). For that price, you’re getting the laptop stocked with a 15.6-inch FHD display that supports up to a 144Hz refresh rate, a six-core Intel Core i7-10750H processor, an Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics chip, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a batch of ports including a Thunderbolt 3 port. It seems like a competent machine.Dell also makes the G5 15 SE, which is pictured above. There aren’t many visual differences, aside from there being a more muted colorway in this discounted model. But inside, the G5 15 SE stocks AMD... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge An interview with Jon Fortt of CNBC Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook 2, previously stated to be coming in “Q1 2021,” finally has a release date. You can preorder it starting today through Samsung and Best Buy, and it’ll start shipping on March 1st. Models start at $549.99.While it’s technically the second device to bear the name “Samsung Galaxy Chromebook,” this laptop is a step down from its $999 predecessor — an ultrathin premium OLED device — when it comes to hardware. It’s a bit thicker and heavier, at 2.71 pounds and 0.55 inches thick. And Samsung has replaced the Galaxy Chromebook’s high-end 4K OLED panel with a more standard QLED screen (which the company says can produce over a billion colors). The Chromebook 2 comes in the same colors as its predecessor (“mercury... Continue reading…

If a gadget has a processor in it, then there’s a decent chance someone’s tried to hack it to run Doom. A Nintendo Game & Watch? Naturally. A MacBook Pro Touch Bar? Sure. Calculators? Why not. Now, thanks to YouTube channel Games Made of Cardboard, we can finally add “cardboard boxes” to that illustrious list.Ok, so technically Bill Thorpe hasn’t done the impossible and successfully got classic first-person shooter Doom II to run on an actual cardboard box. But his 10-minute long video is the next best thing. It recreates many of the game’s best moments using cardboard sets, characters, and weapons. It’s a huge project that the video’s description says took nine months of work to complete.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Samsung has a pair of new laptops in development — the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 — which include OLED displays and will be compatible with the company’s S Pen stylus, SamMobile reports. The Galaxy Book Pro 360 is said to also be available with 5G connectivity. The laptops were first revealed in a Bluetooth certification filing that surfaced last month.SamMobile’s report doesn’t go into details about the specs of the OLED displays such as what their resolution or refresh rates might be. However, given the laptops will reportedly be available with 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch screens, it seems unlikely that they’ll use the 14-inch 90Hz OLED displays that Samsung Display said it would be mass manufacturing starting next month.T... Continue reading…

GIF: Hyundai Hyundai is teasing the first interior photos of the Ioniq 5 ahead of its world premiere on February 23rd. It’s Hyundai’s first EV to utilize the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) — the same platform that Apple is said to have been interested in for its oft-rumored self-driving car. E-GMP’s flat battery and long wheelbase allows for a more spacious and customizable interior for both passengers and cargo.The big design flourish teased today is a sliding center console inside the Ioniq 5. The so-called “Universal Island” moves out of the way so that the driver or passengers can easily enter and exit either side of the car when parked in a narrow spot, for example. GIF: Hyundai The “Universal Island” slides... Continue reading…

Photo by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images Microsoft has updated its unified Office mobile app to work on Apple’s iPad devices. The new Office app combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a single application, and originally launched for iOS and Android back in 2019. Microsoft has been gradually improving it ever since, but it always ran in a windowed mode instead of a fully optimized iPad app.This new update means Office is now a full iPadOS app, with access to all of the regular tablet variants of Microsoft’s productivity suite. The app also bundles in some useful tools designed primarily for mobile tasks. These include the ability to quickly create PDFs or sign documents, converting images to text and tables, and more quick actions.Microsoft has been simplifying its mobile... Continue reading…

Electric moped rental company Revel is expanding its product lineup to include monthly e-bike subscriptions for residents of New York City. It’s the latest company to try to capitalize on the e-bike boom by shifting to a Netflix or Spotify subscription model for transportation.For $99 a month, interested customers can get a stylish electric bike manufactured by NYC-based e-bike company Wing delivered straight to their door. The price also includes complimentary maintenance, including flat tires fixes, loose chains repairs, or brake upkeep. Service requests can be submitted via Revel’s smartphone app, and Revel says a repair technician will respond within 24 hours. The company will also supply a bike lock and educational material to help... Continue reading…

A screenshot for the new PC version shows the upgraded ray tracing technology. | Image: 4A Games Metro Exodus developer 4A Games has revealed the free upgrades that are coming to its 2019 shooter on PC and next-gen consoles this year. The new version-specific features vary by platform, but include overhauled ray tracing support and support for Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 technology on PC. Also revealed are improvements coming to the next-gen console version, first announced last year.On PC, the update will be released as Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition, and it’ll be free regardless of whether you own the game on Steam, the Epic Games Store, or GoG. Although the game supported ray tracing at launch, the new version significantly upgrades it with support for new features like advanced ray traced reflections. Other upgrades coming to the new... Continue reading…

E-reader company PocketBook has announced and released the InkPad Color, a 7.8-inch device that uses E Ink’s latest color technology. PocketBook tells The Verge that it’s the first device with a new Kaleido panel to be available in the US and Europe.According to the company, the new version of Kaleido has a different color filter pattern that offers better contrast and color saturation than the first Kaleido, which is itself pretty new technology. PocketBook also says that the screen refresh rate has been improved in software.The specs of the new Kaleido panel are otherwise similar to the previous generation, with 300-dpi resolution for monochrome content and 100 dpi when displaying colors. The overall screen resolution has been... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge We’re eagerly awaiting to hear official news about Android 12, Google’s next major update to its mobile operating system, and we might have gotten an early look at some big UI changes just last week, thanks to XDA Developers. But now, thanks again to XDA Developers, we might know something even more important: Android 12’s dessert name.For years, Android releases were also identified with dessert names, and each year’s dessert started with the next sequential letter in the alphabet. Google deserted the dessert names in favor of numerals with Android 10, but the company reportedly still uses dessert names internally. Android 11’s dessert name was apparently Red Velvet Cake, for example. Android 12’s name? XDA Developers says that it’s... Continue reading…

Roku is testing a new version of its remote control for its set-top boxes, the Roku Voice Remote Pro, which ditches the AAA batteries for a built-in rechargeable battery instead, via Zatz Not Funny.Along with the rechargeable batteries the new model — revealed by Reddit user u/KingTut206 over on the Roku subreddit — offers a few extra features, including a “lost remote finder” option and hands-free voice controls. (So you’ll be able to say something like “Hey Roku, find my remote” and have it pinged.) It also features two customizable buttons, in addition to the four pre-programed ones for streaming services that have partnered with the company. Image: u/KingTut206 / Reddit Unfortunately, the new remote charges via... Continue reading…

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple released watchOS 7.3.1 on Monday, and it could help fix an issue that prevents some Apple Watch Series 5 or SE smartwatches from charging while in the battery-saving Power Reserve Mode. But even the software update might not fix the issue, according to Apple. If it doesn’t, the company will repair your watch for free.“A very small number of customers with Apple Watch Series 5 or Apple Watch SE models running watchOS 7.2 or 7.3 have experienced an issue with their watch not charging after it enters Power Reserve,” Apple says in a support document. If your Apple Watch still won’t charge after installing the update and after you put it on a charger for at least 30 minutes, the company asks that you contact Apple Support to set up a... Continue reading…

Illustrator by Alex Castro / The Verge Much of Texas has been hit by a historic winter cold front, leaving many without power and affecting internet and cell phone services in the state.Downdetector is showing spikes in user reports for T-Mobile and AT&T from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and the surrounding areas.“We’re experiencing network issues following severe weather in several areas of the country and especially across Texas,” T-Mobile president of technology Neville Ray said in a tweet. “Our teams are working hard to restore service.”

The Nothing brand logo | Image: Nothing Nothing, the recently-launched startup from former OnePlus executive, Carl Pei, has acquired the Essential brand, according to a report from 9to5Google citing filings at the UK Intellectual Property Office. Essential, of course, was the company started by Android creator Andy Rubin after he left Google. It launched a single smartphone before shuttering its doors due to poor sales performance. Nothing’s acquisition, which was completed on January 6th, 2021, ahead of Pei’s formal announcement of Nothing, apparently includes all of the trademarks, logo, and other branding of Essential.It’s not clear what Pei’s new company plans to do with the Essential brand (or anything else for that matter; the information on what exactly Nothing’s... Continue reading…

Image: Team17 (via the PlayStation Blog) Overcooked All You Can Eat, which bundles all of the content from Overcooked and Overcooked 2 into one big package, will be released on Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam on March 23rd, developer Ghost Town Games announced on Monday. Right now, the game is only available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, so a lot more players will be able to jump into this combined bundle with the wider release.Overcooked All You Can Eat also serves as a remaster for the games, running at 60fps and a 4K resolution. The game also has faster loading times, which I personally am happy to hear about. Levels in the Switch version of Overcooked 2 sometimes loaded frustratingly slowly.

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images The alternative social network Parler has reopened after a month offline. The company announced in a press release that the site is now accessible for users with existing accounts and will accept new signups starting next week. It’s also announced a new interim CEO: Mark Meckler, who previously cofounded the right-wing group Tea Party Patriots. The relaunch comes after Apple, Google, and Amazon suspended service in the wake of January’s attack on the US Capitol, citing violent threats on the platform.Old Parler user accounts have been restored, but old “parleys” — the site’s term for posts — don’t appear to have carried over. Some high-profile users, like Fox News host Sean Hannity, have begun posting on the new site already. The... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge UK automaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) says its Jaguar luxury brand will be all-electric by 2025. Meanwhile, its Land Rover brand will release its first all-electric vehicle in 2024, the first of six fully electric models planned for release over the next five years. JLR’s transition will be funded by a £2.5 billion (around $3.5 billion) a year investment into electrification and related technologies, Bloomberg reports.JLR’s plans are ambitious, but the automaker has previously been slow to embrace electrification. It’s only fully electric car to date is the Jaguar I-Pace SUV, which Bloomberg notes has struggled to make inroads against more established electric carmakers. Even then, the car is built by a contractor, rather than being... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is rolling out a new update for its two-factor authentication prompt on Android, which adds support for dark mode (along with a new Material Design-style look), via 9to5Google.Is this objectively a minor cosmetic update in the great scheme of things? Yes. Is it nice to not be blasted with retina-searing white light when your two-factor authentication prompt comes up while you’re trying to log into something in pitch-black darkness? Also yes. Image: 9to5Google The old (left) and new (right) two-factor authentication prompts on Android In addition to the less blinding hue, the new update also features a couple of other minor cosmetic changes, including Google’s custom Google Sans font for the UI, and... Continue reading…

Sundance Institute A New Frontier for a year at home Continue reading…

Microsoft has started testing its xCloud game streaming through a web browser. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans tell The Verge that employees are now testing a web version of xCloud ahead of a public preview. The service allows Xbox players to access their games through a browser, and opens up xCloud to work on devices like iPhones and iPads.Much like how xCloud currently works on Android tablets and phones, the web version includes a simple launcher with recommendations for games, the ability to resume recently played titles, and access to all the cloud games available through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Once you launch a game it will run fullscreen, and you’ll need a controller to play Xbox games streamed through the browser.... Continue reading…

The Galaxy F62 will be available in blue, grey, and green. | Image: Samsung Samsung’s Galaxy F62 is a new affordable handset that’s releasing in India on February 22nd. It features a massive 7,000mAh battery and the same Exynos 9825 processor that powered the Galaxy Note 10 back in 2019. It’s available in two variants: one with 6GB of RAM that costs ₹23,999 (around $330), and a second with 8GB of RAM that costs ₹25,999 (around $358).Around front you’ll find a 6.7-inch 1080p OLED display with a 32-megapixel selfie camera contained within a hole-punch notch, while on the back there’s a quad camera array. Here there’s a 64-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide with a 123-degree field of view, a 5-megapixel macro camera, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. There’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the... Continue reading…

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Nissan has issued a statement denying that it’s in discussions to work with Apple on the US company’s long-rumored autonomous car project. Earlier today the Financial Times reported that Apple had approached the Japanese automaker about a potential partnership “in recent months.”“We are not in talks with Apple,” a Nissan spokesperson tells Reuters. “However, Nissan is always open to exploring collaborations and partnerships to accelerate industry transformation.”That statement doesn’t address whether the talks ever took place, which means it doesn’t directly contradict the Financial Times’ story. That report said that “the contact was brief and the discussions did not advance to senior management levels following divisions over... Continue reading…

The original hatchback Bolt EV is also getting a refresh Continue reading…

M. Night Shyamalan’s Old | Universal Today’s big drop was the premiere trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League which, fortunately for weekend editors everywhere, came just after 10AM ET. It comes to HBO Max March 18th.Last weekend during the Super Bowl we got a new trailer for the upcoming Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which premieres March 19th. Here it is in case you missed it (what, it’s possible someone missed it):There are, however, a few non-superhero shows and movies on the horizon in case you need a breather from the DC/Marvel/Disney universes (I mean I guess that’s also possible). Here’s what we got.Nomadland Frances McDormand is Fern, a houseless— not homeless, she insists— woman who leaves her home in Nevada after her husband dies,... Continue reading…

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The developers of audio chat room app Clubhouse plan to add additional encryption to prevent it from transmitting pings to servers in China, after Stanford researchers said they found vulnerabilities in its infrastructure.In a new report, the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) said it confirmed that Shanghai-based company Agora Inc., which makes real-time engagement software, “supplies back-end infrastructure to the Clubhouse App.” The SIO further discovered that users’ unique Clubhouse ID numbers —not usernames— and chatroom IDs are transmitted in plaintext, which would likely give Agora access to raw Clubhouse audio. So anyone observing internet traffic could match the IDs on shared chatrooms to see who’s talking to each other, the... Continue reading…

With Zack Snyder’s Justice League set to release nearly a month from now, Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for the film.Set after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice where Batman and Wonder Woman form a superhero team including Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg as the group tries to protect the world from Steppenwolf.The trailer opens with a voiceover from Lex Luthor: “The god is dead” and as expected, gives us a new look at Jared Leto’s Joker.Justice League first debuted in November 2017 in theaters. Snyder was the original director but stepped away from the project during post-production for personal reasons, leaving Joss Whedon to step in and complete the film. After its release, fans criticized the contributions... Continue reading…

DJI’s first-ever FPV (first-person-view) drone hasn’t been much of a secret for months — but an unboxing video now shows off the new quadcopter, controller and FPV goggles from practically every angle (via OsitaLV).While the prominent “NOT FOR SALE” and “DISPLAY DEMO” stickers on the box and controller suggest that some details might change before a rumored March launch, we can clearly see a set of front- and downward-facing cameras that are likely obstacle avoidance sensors, in addition to the large main camera mounted high in the drone’s shell. The battery is a tall rectangular brick that plugs right into the back, and it seems like the kit comes with both a charger and a portable power bank of some sort — though it’s... Continue reading…

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling 1.29 million vehicles because of a failure in its eCall software which may not provide a vehicle’s correct location to emergency responders after a crash, Car and Driver reported.The recall covers vehicles sold from model years 2016 to 2021 and includes CLA-Class, GLA-Class, GLE-Class, GLS-Class, SLC-Class, A-Class, GT-Class, C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, CLS-Class, SL-Class, B-Class, GLB-Class, GLC-Class, and G-Class vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The automaker said it was unaware of any instances of material damages or personal injuries that have resulted from the issue, and plans to provide a free software update to be installed over the air or at dealerships.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has provided a bug fix to its iOS YouTube app, the first update to a major Google iOS app since December, 9to5Google reports. Although there’s been speculation that the reason for the lack of updates to iOS versions of Gmail, Docs, Search, and Photos is an attempt to avoid Apple’s new privacy labels, Google has explicitly denied that was the case. The company said in a January 12th blog post it would add the labels to its apps when updates were available:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Last year, the pseudonymous writer behind the SlateStarCodex blog abruptly shut it down, claiming a forthcoming story from The New York Times was going to reveal his real name and potentially put him in danger. Reporter Cade Metz says he was able to easily find the blogger’s real name —Scott Siskind— online. After a farewell post on the blog, Metz says he and his editor were harassed online by its angry fans. Now, Metz’s reporting on SlateStarCodex and the philosophical views that made it so popular is finally here. It’s a compelling look at the mindset among many in Silicon Valley’s tech industry.

Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Robinhood co-CEO Vlad Tenev, and Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty) are all on the witness list for an upcoming hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, according to a release from Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). The hearing, to be conducted virtually, will probe the recent volatility in shares of GameStop following a rally fueled by a group of day traders active on the r/WallStreetBets Reddit board.Over a two-week period that began last month, GameStop’s stock (GME) skyrocketed by 500 percent, hitting a high of $483 on January 28th. Several government entities are now looking into whether there was market manipulation involved, and whether Robinhood and other brokerages that temporarily restricted... Continue reading…