The Verge

Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against Uber and Lyft on Tuesday claiming the app-based companies are misclassifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. The state is the latest to challenge the way the multibillion-dollar ride-hailing industry treats its workers.“For years Uber and Lyft have built their billion-dollar businesses on a model that exploits drivers,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a video message announcing the lawsuit. “Uber and Lyft set the rates. They alone set the rules. Drivers are employees.”Massachusetts is the second state to sue Uber and Lyft over the misclassification of drivers. In May, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, along with city attorneys of Los Angeles,... Continue reading…

Image: Hulu We’re all tired. Every day runs together, an endless tangle of hours and screens and occasional bursts of daylight to recharge. Old routines take on new wrinkles: meetings via webcam, masks to maintain and wear before outings, communal activities retrofitted to be done in isolation. Maybe we’re not in a literal time loop, but it sure feels like one; a long, endless stretch of days where little changes and we’re burned out all the time. Enter Palm Springs, a movie for 2020’s burnout state of mind.At first blush, Palm Springs is another take on Groundhog Day: Nyles (Andy Samberg) is a dude with the terrible misfortune of having to relive an acquaintance’s wedding day over and over again. But what makes Palm Springs stand out is how little... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft has been testing deeper Gmail and Google Calendar integrations in Outlook on the web for months, and part of that is arriving for Outlook business users today. Outlook on the web users will be able to add their personal Outlook.com or Google Calendar accounts to an Outlook work account so that you see a better view of your availability when scheduling work appointments.This new feature is rolling out now to all Microsoft 365 users with a work account, but there’s no news on when Outlook.com users will be able to add Gmail and Google Calendar accounts. Microsoft has been testing this functionality for months now, with it briefly appearing in some Outlook.com accounts. Outlook’s Google Calendar integration. A... Continue reading…

Peacock is NBCUniversal’s new streaming service and the last major entrant in the colloquial streaming wars. But Gidon Katz, the company’s president of direct to consumer, believes Peacock can win by leaning into something most of its biggest competitors won’t: offering premium entertainment, mostly for free.When Peacock launches tomorrow across the United States, people can choose between three different tiers: a completely free ad-supported version that gives people access to more than 13,000 hours of content, daily news and sports programming, and samplings of Peacock original series, but not full access. Then there’s Peacock Premium, a $4.99-a-month version that gives people more than 20,000 hours of content, including all Peacock... Continue reading…

OnePlus has revealed a first look at the OnePlus Nord, giving a quick preview to Marques Brownlee during an interview about the phone’s design process. The Nord, which is supposed to be OnePlus’ return to midrange phones, is set to be formally announced next week — though, per usual, OnePlus has been teasing out details ahead of the launch.In the latest MKBHD video, Brownlee displays a brief look at what the Nord will look like. It bears a strong resemblance to the OnePlus 8, released earlier this year, with a glossy back, curved edges, a central logo, and a camera strip. The big difference is that the camera strip is now located at the upper-left corner of the phone, whereas recent OnePlus phones have positioned it in the center. ... Continue reading…

Razer Razer has announced its first 60 percent keyboard, the Huntsman Mini. It’s made for people who need just the bare minimum of dedicated keys. Gone are the number pad, arrow keys, and function keys — what’s left is a more simple, travel-ready option that’s great for those who want to maximize their desk space for a big mouse pad or just to have something that can more easily be tucked away.Razer already makes different sizes of its Huntsman keyboard, including a full-sized option and the 80 percent tenkeyless Huntsman TE, but this 60 percent model is its smallest keyboard yet. And despite the small size, all of the functions that appear missing at first glance are still present. They’re just tucked in as alternate functions on each key... Continue reading…

Razer hopes you’re reading to buy a bunch of gaming gear, as it has discounted several products on Amazon. Starting with one of the best deals: the Razer Blade Stealth 13 laptop usually costs $1,700, but you can get it today for $1,450. Inside, it’s full of capable components, including Intel’s Core i7-1065G7 quad-core processor, the Nvidia GTX GeForce 1650 Ti Max-Q graphics chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB PCIe-based SSD.Unlike most other game-ready machines, this one features a Thunderbolt 3 port for faster data transfer as well as support for Razer’s Core X Chroma external GPU enclosure. What’s more, this model has the arrow keys in the right place. In previous models, the up arrow was between the forward-slash and shift keys, making... Continue reading…

Image: Netflix It’s been a strange summer for movies. Late April to July was supposed to be dominated by Marvel and DC superheroes, the over-the-top action of the Fast and the Furious franchise, and the inscrutable drama of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, but theater shutdowns due to the pandemic brought all of that to a screeching halt. But in the midst of this cinematic gridlock burst a breath of fresh air for anyone seeking a classic Hollywood summer blockbuster: The Old Guard. It’s the proper popcorn flick we’ve been missing.The Old Guard, released on Netflix, checks every box for a summer hit. The story of a group of immortal warriors doing good across the ages is pulled from the pages of a popular comic series. The cast, led by Mad Max: Fury Road and... Continue reading…

The last big PS4 exclusive is a conflicted one Continue reading…

Microsoft and Citrix have been working together closely for decades, but that partnership is going a step further today. Microsoft is partnering with Citrix to use the company’s Citrix Workspace portal as its “preferred digital workspace solution,” and Citrix is using Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform. It’s a deal designed to speed up Citrix customers to move to the cloud and virtual desktops.Microsoft has been investing heavily in Windows Virtual Desktops recently, ever since the pandemic forced many businesses to shift to working from home. Windows Virtual Desktop usage has grown more than three times in recent months, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has prioritized work on both Microsoft Teams and Windows Virtual... Continue reading…

The Stretch robot is designed to spur research into home automation. | Image: Hello Robot It looks like a telescoping grabber tool attached to a hat stand, but it could be the future of home robotics. Meet Stretch, the first device from Hello Robot, a startup founded by former Google director of robotics Aaron Edsinger and Georgia Tech robotics professor Charlie Kemp, that came out of stealth today after three years in development.The Stretch robot could be a blueprint for future home robotsStretch is not a consumer robot that’s ready to roll into your apartment and start doing the dishes, but rather a research platform that Edsinger and Kemp hope will lay the groundwork for home automation in the years to come. The bot’s lightweight and low-cost design could be a blueprint for future robots, especially those designed to... Continue reading…

Panasonic is updating its Lumix Tether application for Mac to make it easier to use some models of its mirrorless Lumix cameras as a webcam — but it’ll take a bit more effort than some other solutions, at least for now, via DPReview.Like the Windows version, the current solution for macOS is pretty hacked together. Panasonic is simply taking its existing Lumix Tether software (used for tethered shooting from a computer) and offering an update that removes the GUI elements from the live preview on the software by adding a new “Live View” with a clean video feed. That live view window can then be passed to a streaming app, like Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), and only then passed through to your videoconferencing or streaming service. If... Continue reading…

Spotify Spotify is revamping its podcast charts today to help listeners find new shows and keep up with what people are enjoying in their area. This brings a well-known, and controversial, feature in the podcasting industry to Spotify, making the app more on par with other popular players, like Apple Podcasts.The two initial podcast charts will be called Trending and Top. Trending, which is based partially on the speed of growth in listener numbers, includes 50 rising shows, while Top will be the 200 most popular shows overall and will be localized by region. Top, which already exists in a much smaller form currently, can also be separated into categories, like business, comedy, and technology, in certain regions. The charts will be available... Continue reading…

Kano is releasing a second-generation model of its buildable Windows 10 PC, which keeps the $299.99 price point and DIY touchscreen form factor, but offers a faster new processor and a slightly updated design (including the addition of USB-C).The overall form factor — a convertible 2-in-1 tablet with an attachable keyboard that also doubles as a protective case — is the same as last year’s model, but Kano has made big improvements to the internal hardware. The main difference is the jump from the old Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor to a new Intel Celeron N4000 — jumping from a 2W chip to a dramatically more powerful 6W processor.The company also now promises a minimum of 10 hours of battery life on the new model, which charges via... Continue reading…

Image: Lego Lego and Nintendo are teaming up for a new Lego set that assembles into a blocky model of Nintendo’s 8-bit gaming console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, along with an interactive TV displaying Super Mario Bros. The two companies collaborated earlier this year to create interactive Super Mario-themed sets.Designed for adult builders, this new set contains 2,646 pieces that combine to create Nintendo’s first home console as well as an NES controller, a game cartridge that can fit into the console, and a miniature retro TV. The TV displays Mario traversing through a stage from the 1985 classic, and a crank located on the left side of the TV lets you move the mustached plumber up and down between platforms. Image:... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Huawei’s networking equipment is to be phased out of the UK’s 5G networks, the government announced today. Telecoms operators will not be allowed to buy new 5G telecoms equipment from the Chinese firm from January next year, and they will have seven years to remove its existing technology from their 5G infrastructure at an expected cost of £2 billion. The announcement follows a new report about Huawei’s role in the UK’s national infrastructure from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.The decision marks a U-turn from the government’s previous position, announced in January, which allowed Huawei’s equipment to be used in the country’s 5G infrastructure, with certain limitations. Under that position, Huawei would be limited to a 35... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google is turning on new security features in its Google Meet video chat service for meetings held by education subscribers, the company has announced. The changes, which are due to go into effect over the next 15 days, will mean that anonymous users won’t be able to join meetings organized by G Suite for Education or G Suite Enterprise for Education subscribers. An anonymous user is anyone not signed into a Google account, the company says.The new features appear to be designed to prevent “zoombombing,” where unauthorized users connect to meetings and disrupt them by broadcasting shock videos, or hurling insults. ZDNet notes that as school lessons have moved online due to the pandemic, some students have shared links to their classes... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge I.Last week I wrote about some of the forces putting the squeeze on TikTok — and, uncharacteristically for me when I write about TikTok, the course of events did not immediately reverse and put TikTok into a stronger position. Instead, by several measures, the situation for ByteDance’s popular video app got significantly worse.For starters, Peter Navarro, an adviser to the president, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that he expects President Trump will take “strong action” against TikTok and a fellow Chinese-made social app, WeChat. Worse from ByteDance’s perspective is that Navarro said the United States will not back down even if TikTok is sold to an American buyer. Here’s Bloomberg:

Photo: Amazon Amazon is expanding its real-world footprint with another unconventional physical product: a shopping cart. While it certainly looks like an aesthetic upgrade to your standard grocery store cart, the Dash Cart, as it’s called, is in fact a smart version of the tried-and-true food transport vehicle.It’s equipped with a touchscreen and other various hardware components to automatically detect what items you’re placing inside and even how many of those items you’ve picked off the shelf. When you’re done shopping, you’re allowed to take the cart through a special lane that checks you out digitally without requiring a human cashier to ring you up.The idea builds on Amazon’s approach of trying to take the convenience it’s mastered in the... Continue reading…

Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images Grant Imahara, the engineer who co-hosted Mythbusters for Discovery and White Rabbit Project on Netflix, has suddenly died at the age of 49. “We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Grant,” Discovery said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. “He was an important part of our Discovery family and a really wonderful man. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.” Imahara died from a brain aneurysm, according to The Hollywood Reporter.After a career as an engineer at Lucasfilm’s THX and ILM divisions, Imahara joined Mythbusters in the show’s third season, and left in 2014 alongside co-hosts Kari Byron and Tory Belleci; the trio reunited for Netflix’s White Rabbit Project in 2016. He was also active in the robot... Continue reading…

Image: Skydio If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when self-flying drone startup Skydio becomes a true competitor to DJI, you might taken today’s announcement poorly. You might have assumed that after two impressive drones that didn’t quite fulfill their full potential, Skydio’s decision to build its next flying flagship camera exclusively for the enterprise and military markets meant it was done with consumers entirely.But Skydio CEO Adam Bry tells The Verge he’s just getting started — there are more consumer drones on the way.“We have more products coming in that market that we’re excited about,” reveals Bry, saying the timing was simply right to expand into the enterprise market, too. In both markets, he says, the goal isn’t to try to beat... Continue reading…

Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool / Getty Images Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are calling for the federal agency to address what they say are “ongoing and recurring acts of racism and discrimination” against its Black employees, NPR reported. More than 1,000 CDC employees signed a letter to director Robert Redfield describing a “pervasive and toxic culture of racial aggressions.”“In light of the recent calls for justice across this country and around the world, we, as dedicated public health professionals, can no longer stay silent to the widespread acts of racism and discrimination within CDC that are, in fact, undermining the agency’s core mission,” the letter reads, according to NPR, which obtained a copy. The letter notes that Black employees are... Continue reading…

Photo by Eamonn McCormack/WireImage Over 60 women and nonbinary people have accused influential comics author Warren Ellis of manipulative and predatory behavior toward female fans and creatives. An open letter and dozens of statements were collected on a site created by some of his alleged targets, and have also been shared with The Guardian, which published a story on the allegations today.The site was launched after several weeks of less specific allegations, including some posted on Twitter. The testimonials describe a long pattern of drawing young female fans into online or offline sexual encounters, which often devolved into controlling behavior or insults. According to The Guardian, Ellis secretly maintained up to 19 relationships at a time, while running online... Continue reading…

Photo: Skydio Skydio, a startup that makes autonomous drones that fly themselves with little human intervention, is entering the commercial drone market with its new X2 model. The X2 is Skydio’s first non-consumer device and it’s marketed toward government agencies, the military, and other organizations that require aerial surveillance or surveying, with its own built-in infrared thermal camera. The X2 announcement coincides with Skydio’s new round of $100 million in funding, led by German multinational company Siemens’ Next47 firm.Skydio first entered the market a little more than two years ago with the Skydio R1. The R1 was an autonomous drone that sported impressive artificial intelligence-powered obstacle avoidance and other sensors and software... Continue reading…

Ubisoft will let you redeem a free copy of open-world hacking simulator Watch Dogs 2 for PC right now just by logging in to your Uplay account. To snag your copy of the 2016 game, head to this page on Ubisoft’s website where you’ll be asked to log in. When you do, you’ll see a message that you’ve successfully claimed the game and that it will soon show up in your Uplay library. It’s unclear how long the giveaway will be going on, though, so you might want to jump on the deal sooner rather than later.Ubisoft had previously said the game would be offered for free if you watched its Ubisoft Forward digital press conference on Sunday and were logged in to Uplay. But technical problems prevented some people from claiming the giveaway.... Continue reading…

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Seventeen states and Washington, DC have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s policy that would prevent international students who are taking online courses from remaining in the US.ICE’s guidelines, announced on July 6th, stated that in order to remain in the country for the fall 2020 semester, international students must be enrolled in in-person classes at their schools or be subject to “immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal procedures.” Meanwhile, students who remain in their own countries would only be permitted to take remote classes and maintain their “Active status” if their school will only be offering remote classes.Under the previous policy, the Student and Exchange... Continue reading…

The iPhone “batterygate” saga was one of the bigger controversies that Apple has ever faced. Apple’s throttling of iPhones with aging batteries prompted a class action lawsuit, and now you can register to get your chunk of the settlement that was reached earlier this year. Per MacRumors, there’s now a website where US consumers who owned an affected iPhone can go to file a claim.To meet the criteria, you must currently or have previously owned:

Twitch has unbanned President Donald Trump, two weeks after suspending his account for “hateful conduct.”Trump’s account, which was used to broadcast new and past campaign rallies, was banned for racist comments made by the president on two occasions. Twitch pointed to remarks at his recent rally in Tulsa, where he referred to criminals as “hombre[s],” and remarks from a rebroadcast of the 2015 event announcing his candidacy, when he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “rapists.”The ban came days after Twitch swore it would crack down on harassment, as streamers began sharing stories of harassment and assault within the industry. By banning Trump, Twitch seemed to indicate that no one is above the rules.The question now is how... Continue reading…

Image: Fisker Inc. EV startup Fisker Inc. wants to power its first SUV with Volkswagen’s mass-manufactured modular electric vehicle platform, or “MEB,” and it says it is in talks with the German automaker to do just that. In fact, the prototype SUV that Fisker Inc. revealed at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show was built on the MEB platform.Fisker Inc. laid all of this out in an investor presentation that was assembled ahead of its push to become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, which the startup formally announced on Monday. The presentation was one of many pages of documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the publicly listed company Fisker Inc. plans to merge with, Spartan Energy Acquisition Corporation,... Continue reading…

Disney Plus is getting a new animated Star Wars series called Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which is set to debut on the streaming service in 2021. The new show is a spinoff of the recently concluded The Clone Wars animated series, which finished its run on Disney Plus earlier this year.Like The Clone Wars, Rebels, and the live-action The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch is being executive produced by Dave Filoni, who has become one of the instrumental pieces of Disney’s upcoming Star Wars strategy, especially when it comes to the company’s TV series.The Bad Batch will focus on the titular squad of clone troopers — of Clone Force 99, aka “the Bad Batch” — who were first introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars (which aired as a Disney... Continue reading…

Photo by Stefan Sauer / picture alliance via Getty Images With coronavirus cases spiking across the US, public health officials are urging the population to wear masks in all public areas, a simple measure that could limit the spread of the disease. But while 20 states now have some kind of mask requirement in place, the new rules have been difficult to enforce. Police departments in Ohio and Texas have refused to enforce statewide mandates, and West Virginia’s mask rule leaves enforcement up to businesses, which are often paralyzed by the bizarre politics of the issue.A minority of the population simply refuses to wear masks and often causes a scene when confronted about it — as countless viral videos have shown. The result is a strange stalemate, with some state and local governments gun shy... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Google announced on Monday that its second-generation Pixel Buds are now available in more countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Spain, and the UK. The true wireless headphones have only been available in the US since their April 27th release date.Google also said it will offer Pixel Buds in more colors starting next month. Currently, you can only buy them in “clearly white,” but Google said the Pixel Buds would come in “oh so orange,” “quite mint,” and “almost black” when it first announced the headphones in October. All four colors are on display on the US Google Store, but you can’t actually buy the orange, mint, and black models right now, only join a waitlist to be notified when... Continue reading…

Photo by Su Weizhong / Visual China Group via Getty Images TikTok has become an avatar of the tech world’s China anxieties, but is there any way out? Continue reading…

Image: Google Where is Google’s Pixel 4A? Sitting right on the company’s online store, as it turns out. Google seems to have mistakenly published an image of the Pixel 4A on its Canadian store. The text says “Nest Wifi,” but uh... that’s no Nest Wifi. The phone has already leaked extensively over the last few months, but this is a marketing render direct from Google — and it suggests that the 4A might finally be coming sometime in the near future.Note also that the screen has a date of May 12th on it, which is pretty solid confirmation that Google did originally plan to launch the 4A during its annual developers conference before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nest Wifi, you say? I don’t think so. The 4A seen in... Continue reading…

The camera system is new and intriguing, but the phone is overpriced Continue reading…

Image: Shipt Workers for grocery delivery platform Shipt are planning to walk off the job and not accept new orders on Wednesday, July 15th, saying the company’s move toward an algorithm-based pay structure will reduce their pay by at least 30 percent.“This seismic company shift is occurring at the same time that its shoppers — essential workers taking unprecedented risks during this pandemic — are already suffering significantly,” a group of Shipt shoppers wrote in a Medium post, “and at the same time Shipt — a corporation profiteering off consumer fears during this pandemic — is experiencing obscene increases in its sales.”Shipt launched a new pay model, internally called “V2” in a few of its markets near the end of 2019, replacing its previous... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s AirPods Pro have dropped to their lowest price yet at Woot, an online store owned by Amazon. Normally $250, they’re $35 off. This brings them down to $215 today only. For context, this deal is a mere $5 cheaper than the discount that has been happening at Verizon for the past week. Though, if you get these now, you’ll have gotten the best price yet on a brand-new set of AirPods Pro. Just add them to your cart, and you’ll see the price drop.If you need a refresher on why these are the best wireless earbuds for iPhone owners, my colleague Chris Welch wrote a convincing argument for picking the AirPods Pro over any other set. Need a USB-C hub that doesn’t skimp on ports? Vava’s USB-C hub is down to its most... Continue reading…

Image: Superstrata Arevo is not a well-known name in the cycling world. But the Silicon Valley-based company is using its expertise in composites manufacturing and 3D printing to produce the “world’s first” 3D-printed unibody electric bike. (It’s not really the first, but more on that in a bit.)Two models are being released today under Arevo’s newly created Superstrata brand. The Superstrata Terra is a lightweight analog that can be custom-built for a variety of riding styles. And the Superstrata Ion is a Class 1 e-bike with a rear-hub 250W motor, a 252Wh battery, and an estimated 60 miles of range.The frame is unibody thermoplastic carbon fiberThe frame is unibody thermoplastic carbon fiber, meaning it’s manufactured as one single continuous piece... Continue reading…

Although Death Stranding was nothing if not divisive, I was very much on the side of those who loved it. The debut title from the newly independent Kojima Productions had its flaws, of course, and I wouldn’t take issue with Andrew’s review headline that called it both “breathtaking and boring.” But in totality, the experience really landed for me. There truly isn’t anything like it, and it’s rare to see such an expensive project with such an uncompromising vision.That feeling has only grown stronger during my time with the PC version, which is set for release tomorrow. Death Stranding is a game that benefits from a second playthrough, as I’m learning, and it helps that it runs a lot better on my PC than it did on my PS4 Pro.The PC I’ve... Continue reading…

OnePlus is no stranger to producing headphones (pictured), but it has yet to release a true wireless model. | Image: OnePlus OnePlus will reveal its first pair of true wireless earbuds on July 21st, the company confirmed today. The OnePlus Buds, as the headphones will be called, will be revealed alongside the OnePlus Nord, the company’s new “more affordable” smartphone lineup. Other than confirming the name, OnePlus didn’t reveal any more information about the earbuds, such as whether they’ll feature active noise cancellation or what kind of battery life we can expect.OnePlus has produced some surprisingly good headphones in the past. When we reviewed its Bullets Wireless headphones back in 2018, for example, we appreciated their engaging, detailed sound and excellent fit. Later that year, we said that its wired Type-C Bullets were “the essential pair of... Continue reading…

Microsoft Flight Simulator will launch on August 18th for PC. Microsoft has been holding private alpha testing of the new game in recent months, and it’s ready for preorder and preinstall today. Microsoft Flight Simulator is the latest installment in the hyper-detailed series that has been running since the 1980s. It follows the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition in 2014.“We have been thrilled and humbled by the support and dedication that has fueled the Flight Sim community for the past 38 years,” says Jorg Neumann, head of Microsoft Flight Simulator. “Since the launch of the very first Microsoft Flight Simulator in 1982, we knew it was finally the right time to develop the next-generation version of Microsoft... Continue reading…

The UAE’s Hope spacecraft. | Image: Emirates Mars Mission This summer, the United Arab Emirates aims to join the ranks of just a handful of elite space-faring countries around the world by launching its first interplanetary mission to Mars. For the last six years, the small Middle Eastern country has worked tirelessly to build a spacecraft that can orbit the Red Planet to study its atmosphere and weather. Now, the mission is set to launch on top of a Japanese rocket.Know as the Emirates Mars Mission, the project will kickstart a busy summer of missions to Mars. Following this launch, China also plans to launch an orbiter, rover, and lander to the Red Planet on July 23rd. Shortly after that, on July 30th, NASA is set to launch its next rover to Mars, called Perseverance. All of these missions... Continue reading…

SiriusXM SiriusXM, a company most well-known for its satellite radio channels, is buying the podcasting company Stitcher from E.W. Scripps in a deal worth $325 million. The company confirmed the deal today after The Wall Street Journal first reported it last week. The move sets Sirius to compete even more seriously against Spotify, iHeartMedia, and Apple for dominance of the podcasting space.Stitcher is not only a popular podcasting app with a premium, ad-free subscription service, but it’s also a network that, combined with its other entity Earwolf, produces shows like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. Scripps also combined Stitcher with Midroll Media, a podcast ad company that sells ads for other shows like The Dream and Getting Curious with... Continue reading…

Image: OnePlus The upcoming OnePlus Nord will have a selfie camera with an ultra-wide 105-degree field of view. OnePlus confirmed the news in a video posted to the Nord’s Instagram page. Although it didn’t confirm the resolution of the camera, a previous report from Android Central said that the phone will have two selfie cameras: one 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and a main 32-megapixel selfie camera. OnePlus has previously shown a prototype device with dual selfie cameras during a documentary about the Nord.In the feature’s announcement video, OnePlus positioned the ultra-wide selfie camera as an alternative to using a selfie stick, meaning it should be helpful for taking selfies of groups, or just of yourself alongside more of your environment.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge California has reportedly opened its own antitrust investigation into Google, Politico reports, which would mean the search giant is now facing antitrust probes from every state in the US bar one. It is not known which aspect of the company California’s attorney general is investigating, but recent scrutiny has focused on its acquisitions, and its dominance and conduct in the ad tech market and search markets.The probe would be just the latest antitrust investigation faced by Google. Last September, attorneys general from 50 states and territories announced an antitrust investigation into Google’s advertising and search businesses. At the time, California and Alabama were the only two states to not participate in the probe.... Continue reading…

Ubisoft, like many other video game companies, was unable to host its typical in-person press conference at E3 in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it hosted a digital event on Sunday called “Ubisoft Forward,” revealing more about its biggest upcoming games. Those included Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, its newly-announced battle royale shooter Hyper Scape, Far Cry 6, and more. The company says it also plans to hold another Ubisoft Forward showcase later this year.Ubisoft Forward comes at a difficult time for the company: Reports of a pervasive toxic culture at Ubisoft have recently come to light amid multiple allegations of misconduct levied against Ubisoft employees. Just yesterday, three prominent executives... Continue reading…

Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft debuted the first trailer for Far Cry 6 as part of its Ubisoft Forward digital conference today. The cinematic trailer didn’t have any gameplay, but showed a city in revolt under the regime of Antón Castillo, who is played by Giancarlo Esposito, perhaps best known as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.In Far Cry 6, players control Dani Rojas, who is tasked with stopping Castillo’s regime. Much like its predecessors Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn, the playable character will be customizable and can be played as either a male or female. But Far Cry 6 will also see the return of a voiced protagonist, GameSpot reports.Ubisoft says players will have many weapons at their disposal and a companion system that allows you... Continue reading…

It’s been nearly two years, but Ubisoft is finally gearing up to release a new Assassin’s Creed game. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is billed as “the ultimate viking fantasy,” set not in the fjords of Scandinavia but in the fields and rivers of England during the ninth century Viking invasion. Players are put in the role of Eivor, a Viking from Norway, as they attempt to lead their people to establish a settlement in England.It may have new Norse trappings and some refreshed gameplay modes and features, but after spending three hours running around Valhalla’s open world, it feels a lot more like an iteration of 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey than a drastically different experience.The game’s recreation of England might be the best the... Continue reading…

NPCs were a big part of the first two Watch Dogs games; their colorful histories and biographical snippets would pop up when you scanned anyone in the game world, mostly for comedic effect. But in Watch Dogs Legion, Ubisoft is taking that potential and expanding it into a core part of the game — or at least, it’s trying to.The idea is simple: all those NPCs, with all their strengths and weaknesses, are now actual playable characters that can be recruited as part of your hacktivist army. Need to sneak into a building site? Recruit a construction worker who can sneak in undetected. And with procedurally generated characters, Ubisoft says that the number of potential recruits ranges in the millions.Unfortunately, for all the hype, after... Continue reading…

Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft has announced that the open beta for its upcoming battle royale shooter Hyper Scape kicks off on PC today, and the company also shared a trailer for the beta and a new cinematic trailer detailing some of the game’s story. The news came as part of the Ubisoft Forward presentation that aired on Sunday.Hyper Scape launched first as a technical test on July 2nd, with Ubisoft giving access to some Twitch and YouTube creators so they could stream the game. The launch was a huge success, with Hyper Scape rising to the top of the Twitch charts that day. In his experience with the technical test, my colleague Nick Statt found the game to be a fun and polished take on the battle royale formula.Update July 12th, 4:25PM ET: Updated... Continue reading…