The Verge

Millions of acres are burning across the West Coast Continue reading…

Image: Motorola Earlier this year, Motorola relaunched the Razr, modernizing the iconic flip phone brand with a flashy foldable display, Android, and a $1,500 price tag. But it fell short in a number of ways, with a creaky hinge, poor cameras, and lackluster battery life. Now, Motorola is trying to redeem its first foldable with a second-generation Razr, which adds 5G support, better cameras, and more useful software.The overall design of the new Razr looks fairly similar to the original foldable. There’s a 6.2-inch, 21.9:9 foldable display on the inside of the phone, while a 2.7-inch OLED “Quick View” display on the outside allows for access to notifications and other basic functionality. Also the same: the high price tag, which, at $1,399, is just... Continue reading…

I still don’t know what I think about Ronald Reagan sending players to do war crimes, but I’m certainly on board with the epic shipboarding combat I just saw in the first multiplayer reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.While we don’t see the ship’s actual armaments in play (it’s not clear if you can control them), the rest of the map seems incredibly dynamic: zip line from ship to ship, commandeer gunboats, jump around in jet skis, take down a helicopter with an RPG. You can even engage underwater, or so the trailer suggests.And that’s just one of several maps Activision revealed in the trailer today. Here’s how it describes each of the first five maps:

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The number of high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes dropped off this year, declining from last year’s record high. Just under 20 percent of high schoolers and about 5 percent of middle schoolers said that they currently used the products, according to the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which was conducted between January and March.Last year, 27.5 percent of high school students and 10.5 percent of middle school students said they used e-cigarettes.“Although the decline in e-cigarette use among our Nation’s youth is a notable public health achievement, our work is far from over,” said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press release.Teen use of a drug... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple’s “Sign In with Apple” login system will no longer work with Epic Games accounts as soon as September 11th, Epic said today. The new restriction is another casualty of Apple and Epic’s ongoing spat.If you currently use “Sign In with Apple” for your Epic account, Epic says you’ll need to update your account with new login credentials before September 11th to retain access. Epic has put together a guide on how to make that update if you need to do so. Epic also says that it may be able to recover your account manually after the “Sign in with Apple” option goes away, but you’ll have to contact the studio directly.Apple requires developers to use its single sign-on system if they offer any other third-party options and want their... Continue reading…

Photo by Jackson Lee Davis / AMC The Walking Dead television series on AMC that debuted nearly 10 years ago will end after 11 seasons. That might be bleak news for fans, but there will be plenty of episodes to watch before it all comes to an end. Variety and Entertainment Weekly both report that the final season will consist of 24 episodes debuting in late 2021. Between now and then, fans will be treated to seven episodes for the 10th season, one of which is the finale airing on October 4th, followed by six bonus episodes airing in early 2021.In true zombie-like fashion, the end for Walking Dead on AMC isn’t as final as it seems. We already knew that the plotline for Rick Grimes, the show’s former lead played by Andrew Lincoln, will see its conclusion in theaters at... Continue reading…

A group of Chengdu Hunters fans following an August 8th watch party. | Photo: Panda Base Marie Blanquart had big plans for 2020. As president of The Rooster Club, a supporters group for the Overwatch League’s Paris Eternal, she spent a lot of time thinking about what the fan group could do for the new season, where each of the league’s 20 teams would host home matches in local arenas for the first time. The group worked with the Eternal to have their own seating section during games in Paris so that they could lead chants and cheers. They also planned trips to watch the Eternal play in London and Toronto, and they hoped to organize watch parties for fans all across France.But then the pandemic happened, and all of those plans went away. “We took a hit,” Blanquart tells The Verge. “For a few days we were a bit shell-shocked.... Continue reading…

Dune is one of the greatest science fiction books ever written, and the first trailer for the latest adaptation has finally arrived, giving fans a glimpse at director Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s iconic novel.The almost absurdly star-studded cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista, and Javier Bardem. Villeneuve is no stranger to epic science fiction, either, having previously directed Arrival and Blade Runner 2049.The trailer was unveiled alongside a Q&A session hosted by Steven Colbert, featuring Villeneuve and members of the cast discussing their take on the upcoming film.

Image: Disney Sometimes movies, like people, have baggage. These unavoidable aspects don’t necessarily unfold on-screen, but they color the viewer’s perception regardless: production issues, expectations, historical context. Disney’s remake of Mulan, unfortunately, has more than most.As the latest live-action remake of a beloved animated film, it has to live up to what fans love about the 1998 original while also battling the less-than-remarkable reception preceding remakes have garnered. That alone would be plenty. But Mulan is also a milestone for Asian representation in American blockbuster cinema: a big-budget film without a single white actor (although plenty of white creatives are behind the camera) and a cast stacked with Asian American and... Continue reading…

An ice floe in the Arctic Ocean. | Photo by: Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images A few weeks into an Arctic research mission, women on board a Russian icebreaker were directed to think about “hot pants.” The ship’s mission had a new dress code, one that prohibited tight or revealing clothing.The ship, the Akademik Fedorov, set sail last fall as part of a larger — and still on-going — international project called MOSAiC that is researching the Arctic’s climate. People aboard the ship helped deploy buoys that could take critical measurements of sea ice, among other research.One of the women who received the new rules was reporter Chelsea Harvey, who wrote about the surreal and infuriating experience in a story for E&E News. The new rules, the group was told, were partly to make sure that people were dressing... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A coalition of civil rights groups are calling for Ankhi Das, Facebook’s public policy chief in India, to step down in the face of growing sectarian conflict in India. The 41 groups sent an open letter expressing their objections to Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, citing an escalating potential for Facebook-fueled violence in the country.“Facebook should not be complicit in more offline violence, much less another genocide, but the pattern of inaction displayed by the company is reckless to the point of complicity,” the groups write. “[We] write to urge you to take decisive action to address Facebook India’s bias and failure to address dangerous content in India.”“Facebook should not be complicit in more offline violence”Signatories... Continue reading…

Tile Tile, the company that makes trackers to monitor your stuff, is offering a new premium subscription plan starting today that’ll allow people to claim money for lost items. The plan, called Premium Protect, costs $99.99 per year and includes all of the perks of its premium subscription, including free battery replacements and a 30-day location history as well as item reimbursement up to $1,000. Premium, the original plan, is still available and costs $29.99 per year or $2.99 per month.Premium Protect members can register most items to qualify it for reimbursement, and Tile is working with a company called Cover Genius to follow through and approve lost item requests. (The company does list some exemptions like antiques, commercial paper,... Continue reading…

You could already buy a battery bank with a built-in Apple Watch charger. You could buy one with a wireless charging pad, too — they even sell one with a built-in kickstand.But to get them both, plus USB-C and USB-A wired charging, all in a single portable gadget? The new $99 Satechi Quatro might be the first we’ve seen.Simply put, the Quatro is a USB external battery pack that offers up to 18W of USB-C PD charging for your phone or tablet, plus a dedicated 2.5W Apple Watch charging station and a 5W Qi wireless charging pad to top up your wireless earbuds or possibly a phone. The USB-A port delivers up to 12 watts. Image: Satechi Since it’s only got 10,000mAh of capacity, you shouldn’t expect it to fill up a... Continue reading…

Electric skateboards can be incredibly fun to ride, but they tend to be less popular than scooters and bikes because most people lack the confidence to zip around at high speeds in an upright position without holding on to something. And when the road conditions are bad, riding an electric skateboard can quickly go from fun to dangerous.Hunter Boards, based in Lisbon, Portugal, thinks it may have a solution to get more people interested in electric skateboards. The company claims to have built a unique suspension system that can increase stability, minimize vibrations, and reduce a rider’s risk of falling and hurting themselves.“This is for everyone who loves electric skateboards and doesn’t want a road in poor condition to ruin its... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge At Best Buy, you can save $60 off the usual cost of Jabra’s Elite 75t truly wireless earbuds, which are one of the best options around if you like a lot of bass in your sound. This price cut brings the black version down to a far more reasonable $120, though you have to be signed in with your Best Buy account to see the deal. Once you’re logged in, a box should appear under the price, allowing you to check a box to knock the price down from the sale price of $150 to $120. This deal lasts until September 12th.If you want a color other than black, the gold beige and titanium black colorways are $150 ($30 off) at Best Buy and at Amazon. Image: Jabra For something far, far more affordable in Jabra’s catalog of wireless... Continue reading…

Artist: William Joel How easy is it to make a deepfake, really? Over the past few years, there’s been a steady stream of new methods and algorithms that deliver more and more convincing AI-generated fakes. You can even now do basic face-swaps in a handful of apps. But what does it take to turn random code you found online into a genuine deepfake? I can now say from personal experience, you really need just two things: time and patience.Despite writing about deepfakes for years, I’ve only ever made them using prepackaged apps that did the work for me. But when I saw an apparently straightforward method for creating quick lip-sync deepfakes in no time at all, I knew I had to try it for myself.The basic mechanism is tantalizingly simple. All you need is a... Continue reading…

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Ubisoft’s next entry in its long-running franchise, is launching November 10th, the developer announced today. The game’s release will coincide with that of the Xbox One Series X and S; Valhalla was originally slated for November 17th.Microsoft announced today that its next console will be available for $499 this November. Valhalla, revealed in April, is a Viking-themed twist on the series. The game stars Viking raider Eivor — in a female or male option — fighting to establish a settlement in England.

Microsoft is fully detailing its new Xbox Series S console today. The $299 next-gen console will arrive on November 10th, designed to be a more affordable option for 1440p gaming. Microsoft is using the same CPU from the Xbox Series X inside the Series S, running at 3.6Hz. This is only slightly slower than the 3.8GHz speed the Zen 2-based CPU runs at in the Series X. “The primary difference between Xbox Series X and S is the GPU,” explains Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s director of Xbox program management.“Xbox Series S delivers four times the processing power of an Xbox One console and supports experiences up to 120fps,” says Liz Hamren, head of platform engineering and hardware at Xbox. “The primary difference between Xbox Series X and... Continue reading…

Microsoft’s Netflix-like subscription service is getting a bit bigger. Today, the company announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for PC subscribers will soon get an EA Play membership at no additional charge.Essentially, this means that if you shell out for Game Pass Ultimate or on PC, your subscription will also include access to more than 60 additional EA games, including big titles like The Sims, Mass Effect, and FIFA. “This means Ultimate members can enjoy EA Play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Windows 10 PCs, and Xbox Game Pass for PC members get EA Play on Windows 10,” Microsoft explains. The addition of EA Play will start “this holiday.”EA Play was formerly known as EA Access before rebranding this summer.... Continue reading…

Microsoft is launching its Xbox Series X console on November 10th for $499. Preorders for the new console will begin on September 22nd, with the company also offering the Xbox Series X through its Xbox All Access program. Xbox All Access is a bundle that splits the cost of an Xbox console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Xbox Live into monthly payments across 24 months.The Xbox Series X will be available through Xbox All Access for $34.99 per month, including Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft is rapidly expanding its Xbox All Access program in time for the holiday season, and even bundling EA Play into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox All Access. EA Play includes more than 60 of EA’s titles including games like FIFA 20 and Titanfall 2.X... Continue reading…

Two screens, five cameras, one hinge, $2,000 Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Amazon is rolling out a new partnership with AT&T today that will let customers link their phone numbers to their Alexa account, allowing them to both make and receive phone calls via their Alexa devices.It’s an expansion of Amazon’s existing Alexa calling feature, which the company debuted in 2017, that allowed Echo devices to call mobile numbers and landlines for free. The difference here is that Amazon is working much more closely with AT&T, giving customers the opportunity to use their Echo devices in the same way they’d use their regular AT&T phones.Amazon has previously rolled out this feature overseas: Vodafone OneNumber customers in the UK and Germany and EE customers in the UK have already been able to take advantage of... Continue reading…

Image: Sun Squared Media Classic 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is being rebooted as a drama for streaming service Peacock, its original star Will Smith has announced on YouTube. The new version, titled Bel-Air, is based on a viral trailer released last year which was a dramatic reimagining of Will’s journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the mansions of Bel-Air. The series is coming in 2021, according to its announcement video.Deadline reports that Bel-Air became the focus of a bidding war last month, with Netflix and Peacock emerging as the two frontrunners. Peacock has ordered two seasons of the reboot, in a deal that Will Smith called “unprecedented.”“I’ve been in this business for thirty years and that does not happen,” Smith said. The... Continue reading…

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers remarks on climate change and ecology during the official opening ceremony of Lisbon European Green Capital 2020 event, on January 11, 2020 in Lisbon, Portugal. | Photo by Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images 2020 is on track to be a hell of a year for yet another reason: it will close out the hottest five-year period in recorded history, according to a new report. The average global temperature for that five-year period was 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.Even a degree of change has dire consequences.Even a degree of change has dire consequences. World leaders that have signed onto the Paris climate agreement are working to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to avoid catastrophic damage. But they are nowhere near meeting that goal, the report reaffirms.The new report released today by the World Meteorological Association and other United Nations agencies breaks down how climate... Continue reading…

Image: Yubico Yubico is announcing a new version of its USB-C equipped YubiKey 5 security key with NFC built in, which should theoretically be a convenient combo and compatible with many future devices moving forward.Previously, YubiKey offered the YubiKey 5 series in your choice of USB-A; USB-A and NFC; USB-C; and USB-C and Lightning. But with the new YubiKey 5C NFC that’s being announced today, you no longer have to pick between being able to plug your key into a USB-C port or the convenience of NFC authentication, which lets you just tap your key on your device — you can now buy a key that offers both.Hardware-based keys offer extra layer of account securityHardware-based keys offer an extra layer of account security by requiring that you either... Continue reading…

Rain-Bow fenders fitted to the Eeyo 1S. | Photo: Oski Collado The incredibly lightweight Eeyo 1S electric bike is certainly fun to ride, as I said in my review, but it’s not very practical for most city commuters. Not only is it expensive at $4,599, its unique diamond-frame design eschews both front and rear fenders — you can’t even buy them as accessories from Gogoro. While the resulting look is sleek and desirable, it also means arriving at your destination splattered in road grime whenever it rains.That problem was seen as an opportunity by Amsterdam-based designer Oski Collado and his minimalistic Rain-Bow fenders. He’s now built a set for the Eeyo 1 and 1S e-bikes that are ready to ship worldwide. The lightweight Rain-Bow fenders are made of aluminum stays and plastic strips sourced from... Continue reading…

One aspect of the 2020 presidential campaign that isn’t much discussed is the fact that both candidates want to end the internet as we know it. Both President Trump and Joe Biden have called for the end of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies in most cases when their users post something illegal on their platforms.Trump brought the subject up today when a Twitter account with fewer than 200 followers posted an obviously doctored image of Senate Majority Mitch McConnell dressed up in Soviety military garb, with the caption reading “Moscow Mitch.”“Why does Twitter leave phony pictures like this up, but take down Republican/Conservative pictures and statements that are true?” the president wanted... Continue reading…

The Microsoft Surface Duo | Dieter Bohn / The Verge From Surface Mini to Surface Duo Continue reading…

Image: CBS To coincide with the 54th anniversary of the TV debut of Star Trek’s original series, CBS has unveiled a new trailer for the third season of Star Trek: Discovery which is set to premiere on October 15th. If you’re in the US, where the show will stream on CBS All Access, you can watch the full trailer via the tweet below. International viewers, who’ll be able to watch the series on Netflix starting October 16th, can watch it over on the official Star Trek website.Discovery’s first two seasons were set roughly 10 years before the original Star Trek, but with season 3 the crew of the USS Discovery are traveling some 930 years into their future to the year 3188. In this future, the Federation has mostly collapsed after an event ominously... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Nintendo is said to be increasing its Switch production again, with a new Bloomberg report saying the company is asking its partners to manufacture as many as 30 million consoles this fiscal year. While Nintendo’s official forecast remains a conservative 19 million shipments, Bloomberg has reported hikes in production targets to 22 million, 25 million, and now 30 million throughout the year.The Switch is still difficult to find in some markets, including Nintendo’s home country of Japan, as the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a huge increase in demand. With people staying at home, some of Nintendo’s titles like workout RPG Ring Fit Adventure and escapist island fantasy Animal Crossing: New Horizons have been constantly selling in big... Continue reading…

Taboola and Outbrain, best known as the rival chumbox providers who fill space on your favorite websites with garbage like “You Won’t Believe What [NAME] Looks Like Today!” and the ever-popular “1 Weird Trick,” will apparently not be merging into the ultimate source of low-quality web filler we’d feared ever since the Department of Justice saw fit to put its stamp of approval on the deal.CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch are all reporting that the merger, first announced in October 2019, is being called off, after an attempt to renegotiate changing conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t result in a new agreement.What a shame!If you’re curious what a chumbox looks like, you won’t have to look far. (Vox Media is not... Continue reading…

Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images A group of Senate Republicans introduced a new bill Tuesday aimed at chipping away some of the protections provided to social media companies through Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.The Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act, introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), would strip away the liability protection provided by Section 230 if a platform restricted access to content without providing specific rules that it violated. The bill would require platforms to have an “objectively reasonable belief” that content violated a specific policy in order for it to be removed, or they could be held liable for their moderation actions.The bill would also amend language in the... Continue reading…

Need to tell your co-workers you’re taking lunch? Slack will now let you pick from your last five custom statuses so you don’t have to type them (and find the right emoji) over and over again.That’s it, that’s the news — but it’s already becoming a most welcome feature at The Verge, let me tell you.Except perhaps for the shaming:

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google-owned mapping app Waze will now let you send directions from your computer to your phone.The process to do so was pretty straightforward in my brief testing (my personal phone is an iOS device). First log in to Waze on your phone, and then log in to Waze on a desktop browser by scanning a QR code with your phone’s camera. Then, use the browser to get directions to where you want to go, and you’ll see a button to save those directions to the app. Click that button and you’ll get a notification on your phone from Waze. Tap that notification to start the directions on your phone.Google Maps has offered a similar feature for years, so it’s nice to see Waze finally getting the functionality. Waze says that both Android and iOS users... Continue reading…

Image: Vizio The Apple TV app is now available on Vizio SmartCast TVs to customers in the US and Canada, Vizio announced today. With the app, you can access your library of movie and TV show rentals / purchases and also stream Apple’s original content if you’ve got an Apple TV Plus subscription. Vizio TV owners can redeem a three-month free trial of Apple TV Plus, but only if they’re new to the service; this promotion expires on October 16th. (Apple TV Plus normally costs $4.99 per month.)The Apple TV app also offers add-on subscriptions, Apple TV Channels, for other premium services like CBS All Access, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, and more. You can watch content from your Apple TV Channels inside the Apple TV app — without being bounced between... Continue reading…

Image: YouTube LG’s upcoming “Wing” smartphone is expected to be a dual-screen device with a swiveling mechanism, and the screen that flips around could be surprisingly thin, as shown in new leaks of the phone.Take a look for yourself in this video — when this person, who appears to have the phone, shows a side profile of the device, you can see that the rotating screen appears to be quite thin:The video also gives us a good look at the Wing’s swiveling mechanism in action, which allows one screen to rotate 90 degrees horizontally above another screen so they can align in a T-like shape.And in an image shared by leaker Evan Blass on his Patreon, you can get another peek of the thin-looking side profile of the device. Blass’ image also indicates... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings is still confident that 2021 will see more Netflix originals released than this year, but he is acknowledging that with the pandemic affecting production, especially in the United States, it won’t be as many as previously predicted.Hastings sat down with many publications ahead of the launch of his new book, and one question that repeatedly came up is how Netflix is fairing with production on titles moving slower or stopping completely. Netflix is far from the only company encountering these issues, but the slowdown is still prevalent. Hastings says despite those obvious setbacks, the streamer is still on track to release more original films and series in 2021 than this year.“Next year, we’ve planned out... Continue reading…

Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge Samsung and SK Hynix will reportedly stop selling components to Huawei as the Trump administration tightens sanctions on the Chinese phone maker. According to Chosun Ilbo and other Korean news outlets, the companies will suspend trade on September 15th, the day a new set of rules limits dealing with Huawei.These sanctions were introduced in August, following a string of other restrictions implemented since last year. They ban non-American companies from selling components that were developed with US technology unless these companies obtain special approval. This poses a serious threat to Huawei, which has said it may no longer be able to make its Kirin chipsets. Conversely, Huawei’s business is valuable to many other companies, as it r... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple will seek damages against Epic Games for allegedly breaching its contract with the iOS App Store, in a new escalation of the two companies’ ongoing legal fight. The move came in a filing entered on Tuesday, alongside counterclaims for unjust enrichment and tortious interference with Apple’s relationship with its customers.“Actions were undertaken in good faith to advance legitimate business interests.”“Epic’s flagrant disregard for its contractual commitments and other misconduct has caused significant harm to Apple,” the filing reads. “Left unchecked, Epic’s conduct threatens the very existence of the iOS ecosystem and its tremendous value to consumers.”Epic Games sued Apple in August, after the company’s hit game Fortnite was... Continue reading…

Google has officially announced Android 11, and the new operating system is already rolling out to Pixel phones. In honor of the release, Google has created a statue that you can view in augmented reality on any Android phone. Dave Burke, Android’s VP of engineering, tweeted a picture of the virtual statue earlier this afternoon.

Photo illustration by William Joel / Levoy talks to The Verge after leaving Google and joining Adobe Continue reading…

Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TurboTax The Federal Trade Commission is actively investigating Intuit, maker of the popular TurboTax tax preparation software, according to a new report by ProPublica. The case was revealed in a public court filing, in which Intuit sought to limit the scope of the investigation.The investigation centers on TurboTax’s “Free File” product, offered free of charge to most Americans in exchange for the assurance that the IRS would not develop a competing product. But a string of ProPublica investigations found that Intuit had made Free File difficult to find, in one case adding code to prevent it from being indexed by search engines. As a result, many users who were eligible for the free TurboTax filing may have been diverted to paid products.Now,... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra are both $200 off at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy. This brings the price for the smaller device down to $800, and $1,100 for the Note 20 Ultra. The Note 20 series released less than a month ago, and this price cut is far more appealing than Samsung’s preorder incentives that granted up to $150 in e-gift card credit.Both phones are a match when it comes to having the Snapdragon 865 processor, support for 5G, IP68 resistance against water and dust, and other specs you can scope out here if you’re curious. However, the Note 20 Ultra is the one you’ll want if you need even more power, an amazing display, and superior battery life. The Note 20 Ultra’s 6.9-inch, 1440p OLED screen supports up to... Continue reading…

Amy Johnston is carefully perched against the hip of her co-worker for the day, an animator by the name of Marianne Hayden. It’s a strange scene, to say the least: two grown women in a mismatched embrace, one of them decked out in a Tron-like suit fitted with bright orange and green panels. Johnston slowly wags her legs and rests her head on Hayden’s shoulder. “I loved it so much,” Johnston says. “It was very relaxing. It’s nice to be a baby.”Johnston, an experienced stuntwoman, was helping animators for The Last of Us Part II capture movement for an in-game baby. Rather than suit up a real baby (just imagine the complications there), Hayden had asked Johnston to sub in. A little bit of quiet head bobbing, some long and curious stares —... Continue reading…

Image: 9to5Mac Apple’s Tile-like location tracking product has finally entered production, according to a report from Nikkei, meaning you might be able to buy them sometime soon. Rumors about the trackers, which will apparently help you wirelessly locate items they’re attached to like a bag or wallet, have been swirling since last year. They may be called “AirTags,” are apparently designed to work with Apple’s Find My app, and are expected to be small circular discs.AirTags may have some kind of offline finding feature, too, according to a now-deleted Apple support video, meaning they may not require a Wi-Fi or cellular connection to be located. That suggests they could have ultra-wideband radio technology built in, similar to the U1 chip in the... Continue reading…

Image: EA Sports EA is bringing Colin Kaepernick back to Madden. Starting today, Kaepernick will be available as a QB who can be added to any team in Franchise mode in Madden NFL 21, which was released in late August. He can also be selected in the game’s Play Now mode. Kaepernick hasn’t been playable in a Madden game since 2016, according to The Undefeated.“Colin Kaepernick is one of the top free agents in football and a starting-caliber quarterback. The team at EA SPORTS, along with millions of Madden NFL fans, want to see him back in our game,” EA wrote in a statement.

Bose hasn’t released a pair of true wireless earbuds since the SoundSport Free in 2017, but it seems the company is about to make up for lost time. Last year, Bose said it was readying two sets of new earbuds — the Noise Canceling Earbuds 500 and 700, still listed on this website — and a new video suggests the launch of at least one of those could be imminent. Bose has apparently reconsidered its branding choices and is reverting back to its signature “QuietComfort” series: the Noise Canceling Headphones 700 are now simply called the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Seems like the right decision to me.This is according to a marketing video that was prematurely discovered by Redditors on retailer Harvey Norman’s website. (CNET reported on the... Continue reading…

Photo by John Moore/Getty Images The temperature was in the 70s in State College, Pennsylvania on Friday, but the local school board voted to call a “snow day,” cancel classes, and have students in the town’s public schools stay home. Cases of COVID-19 in the area had spiked, and the school district’s board of directors needed time to decide what to do.No students or staff in the district were sick. Instead, the local increases were driven by outbreaks at Penn State University.“We knew that we were opening schools at the same time Penn State was opening,” Amber Concepcion, the school board president, said during a meeting. “We knew there would be a growth curve.”COVID-19 cases are climbing in college towns around the country, and those outbreaks are forcing local... Continue reading…

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images Wildfires have already ripped through a record 2.2 million acres of California this year, making this year’s blazes the most widespread on record. The fires have killed eight people and destroyed 3,300 structures. The second and third single largest fires in the state’s history — the SCU and LNU lightning complexes in Northern California — are burning at the same time.Ridiculously high temperatures for the region set more records over the Labor Day weekend and fueled flames. The mercury rose to 121 degrees Fahrenheit in Woodland Hills, California on September 6th. It was the highest temperature ever recorded in Los Angeles County.The danger isn’t over yet. California is forecast to cool down this week, but firefighters are bracing... Continue reading…

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge Android 11 is officially launching today after months of betas — and it’s getting a wider release than expected, with the latest version of the operating coming today not only to Pixel devices but to phones from OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Realme, too.As expected, the final version of Android 11 is now available to download on the Pixel 2, 3, 3A, 4, and 4A. OnePlus has also confirmed that the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro will be getting Android 11 today in North America, Europe, and India. Google also promises to expect “more partners launching and upgrading devices over the coming months,” so today’s launch will likely be the first of many Android 11 update announcements for the next few weeks.Android 11 adds a variety of new features to... Continue reading…