The Verge

This week’s list of original streaming shows has a little something for everyone, I think: Tom Hanks as a heroic Navy captain fleeing Nazis, a new series from the creator of Regular Show, a twist on the King Arthur legend that focuses on the Lady of the Lake, and Zac Efron who is traveling the world for some reason.Greyhound (Apple TV Plus, now playing)Greyhound is a Navy action movie set in World War II with Tom Hanks playing a captain whose ship is one of a convoy of Allied ships being chased by Nazis in submarines. Hanks wasn’t too thrilled when it was announced that Greyhound would land on Apple TV Plus instead of in theaters, and Polygon says the movie’s spectacle is somewhat diminished since it’s not on the big screen. But... Continue reading…

Photo by Hannes Breustedt/picture alliance via Getty Images Tesla has lowered the purchase price of its Model Y by $3,000, so its Long Range AWD will now cost $49,990, Electrek reported. The Model Y just began shipping in March, and earlier this month Tesla reported better-than-expected delivery numbers for all its vehicles in the second quarter, so the reason for the price cut isn’t totally clear. But it’s likely to help boost sales at a time when all carmakers are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn.Tesla cut prices on several vehicles in May, but the Model Y was not included in those reductions. It lowered the prices on the base models and Performance versions of the Model S and Model X by $5,000, and cut the prices on all versions of its Model 3 by $2,000 (with prices slightly... Continue reading…

Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images President Trump told The Washington Post that he authorized a 2018 cyberattack on the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA), the first time he’s acknowledged doing so. In an interview with Post columnist Marc Thiessen, Trump confirmed that the attack— which the Post reported on last year— started on the day of the 2018 midterm and was successful in disrupting a disinformation campaign by Russia that was meant to raise doubt about the midterm results.“Look, we stopped it,” the president told Thiessen.In 2016, the IRA operated a troll factory as part of Russia’s overall election meddling, which also included stealing emails from the Democratic National Committee. In the past, President Trump had questioned whether Russia was involved... Continue reading…

Ubisoft is hosting a digital press conference to show off what would have been its slate of E3 game announcements. The event is called Ubisoft Forward, and though it’s a strange time for the studio to announce new projects — amid several high-level execs leaving the company after being accused of sexual misconduct and harassment — that hasn’t slowed it down. You can expect to see “plenty of exclusive game news, exciting reveals, and much more,” according to the publisher. With several games in development, like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion to name two anticipated examples, there’s plenty still to show off. Perhaps we’ll see some extended PS5 and Xbox Series X gameplay demos for those games and hopefully others, like... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Paris-based video game company Ubisoft announced Saturday that several high-level company officers are leaving amid allegations of abuse and harassment. The departures of chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, global head of HR Cécile Cornet, and Yannis Mallat, managing director of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios, “come following the initiation of a rigorous review that the company initiated in response to recent allegations and accusations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior,” Ubisoft said in a statement.Earlier this week, Ubisoft confirmed the departure of its vice president, Maxime Béland, following assault allegations, making a total of four prominent executives departing. Under Mallat, Ubisoft’s Canadian studios produced several of... Continue reading…

The latest software update to the Fitbit Charge 4 gives two big upgrades including dynamic GPS, and a “smart wake” option. First reported by 9to5Google, the new features are now rolling out to all users.Dynamic GPS allows you to connect with the GPS in your phone if it’s in range, which may help with location accuracy and preserve the Fitbit’s battery life. If your phone isn’t close enough, the tracker will revert to its internal GPS, which can drain the battery more quickly.The Smart Wake feature is a pretty cool addition; it will work along with the wearable’s sleep tracker, and set alarms to wake you at the time you’re likely to feel most rested. Another new option allows users to decide how long the screen display stays on once... Continue reading…

As it tries to catch up with the popular features offered by some of its younger competitors, Cisco’s Webex has unveiled virtual backgrounds for its videoconferences. Users can either apply a “blur” effect to mask their background or replace with one of Webex’s preset background images.Zoom, the most popular videoconferencing app of the moment, and rivals Google Meet and Microsoft Teams all allow users to upload their own custom images for background displays.Webex is one of the oldest players in the videoconferencing space. It was founded in 1995 and acquired by Cisco in 2007 for $3.2 billion. It’s primarily used as a business application and has a focus on companies, rather than personal customers, but has increased the features... Continue reading…

Photo by Saeed Adyani / Netflix Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Saturday that drugs and a future vaccine to treat COVID-19 should go where they are most needed, not just to “the highest bidder,” Reuters reported.“If we just let drugs and vaccines go to the highest bidder, instead of to the people and the places where they are most needed, we’ll have a longer, more unjust, deadlier pandemic,” Gates said (remotely) during a COVID-19 conference. “We need leaders to make these hard decisions about distributing based on equity, not just on market-driven factors.”The World Health Organization said July 6th there were 21 candidate vaccines in clinical trials being tested on human volunteers. Public health experts have cautioned against “vaccine nationalism” —where... Continue reading…

Photo: Hopper Stone / WarnerMedia I love when books and films take place over really short periods of time, and I recently watched two that work within a similar time frame back to back: Booksmart (which I was seeing for the first time) and Cloverfield (which, if I’d ever seen before, I had completely forgotten). Both take place mostly over the course of a single night, which kicks off after a short setup sequence introduces their cast of characters.The movies aren’t particularly alike, but side by side, it was clear what a comparably amazing job Booksmart does in getting its events rolling. The main character is set up in all of 30 seconds with a glance over her bedroom, and nearly every other character in the movie is established over the next 15 minutes. Then the... Continue reading…

Nintendo’s latest addition to the library of retro games that comes with its Switch Online subscription service includes a big hitter: Donkey Kong Country. Rare’s 1994 side-scrolling platformer was one of the more conspicuous absences from the service, and its addition presumably opens the door for its two sequels down the line.The other two games coming this month are a little more obscure. 1994’s Natsume Championship Wrestling is a US conversion of a SNES wrestling game with its Japanese licensing removed, while The Immortal is a 1990 NES conversion of a fantasy action RPG originally developed for the Apple IIGS and published by EA.All three games will be added to the service on July 15th. Nintendo Switch Online costs $19.99 a year... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple’s upcoming iOS 14 update might let you pay for items by scanning QR codes that activate Apple Pay, giving you another way to use the company’s digital payment platform. 9to5Mac found references to the as-yet unannounced feature in the newest iOS 14 developer beta released earlier today.9to5Mac said it wasn’t able to get the feature to work, though, but it did find an image that appears to be instructing the user about how to use the new feature. And 9to5Mac says it found the code for the feature in a public system API, which may indicate third-party apps could also let you scan QR codes to make purchases using Apple Pay. Image: 9to5Mac iOS 14 is still only available as a developer beta, and Apple regularly... Continue reading…

Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on Wednesday, August 5th, at 10AM ET. The company is expected to reveal its new lineup of Galaxy Note 20 devices, along with a successor to its first foldable, the Galaxy Fold.Samsung’s teaser is pretty cryptic, even by the standards of tech invitations, although the copper color splash does match the leaked images of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — the rumored flagship of the lineup — that were accidentally posted on Samsung’s Russian website at the beginning of July. Image: Samsung Russia Rumors are uncharacteristically quiet for what to expect, despite the fact that an announcement is set to arrive in less than a month. Although at least one... Continue reading…

Images: Audi Audi has unveiled concept renderings of a new “Sportback” version of the Q4 E-Tron electric SUV that it debuted last year. Meant to serve as a smaller and more affordable option to the flagship E-Tron, the Q4s are expected to go on sale in 2021 and will start at around $45,000.The Q4 and the Q4 Sportback are “identical twins” from a technical perspective, according to Audi. As such, the Sportback version will also be powered by parent company Volkswagen’s modular “MEB” platform (an abbreviation of the German phrase for “modular electric drive matrix”) that is going to power a wide range of vehicles across multiple brands. This sets the Q4s apart from the original E-Tron and its variants, which are powered by an Audi-developed electric... Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge The US Supreme Court has upheld a federal ban on robocalls to cellphones from 1991, and it struck down a provision that exempted government-debt collectors.“Americans passionately disagree about many things,” reads the majority opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “But they are largely united in their disdain for robocalls.”The ruling concerns the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which prohibited “almost all robocalls to phones.” A 2015 amendment to the TCPA grants an exception to robocalls made solely to collect debt on behalf of the US government.“They are largely united in their disdain for robocalls.”The plaintiffs, a group of organizations that included the American Association of Political Consultants,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, the electrical engineering and computer science division of the esteemed German research organization, on Tuesday announced VVC, a new video codec standard that promises to bring around 50 percent efficiency gains in streaming video compression.The codec’s full name is H.266/Versatile Video Coding, as Fraunhofer says it’s designed to be a successor to the industry-standard H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) and H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) formats that combined make up about 90 percent of global digital video transmission and compression on the market today. While HEVC was first released in 2013, the codec has proved controversial due to aggressive patent disputes from its various... Continue reading…

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge After months of escalating pressure, leaders from the #StopHateForProfit boycott campaign met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives today. But in a call with reporters after the meeting, organizers from Color of Change, Free Press, the NAACP, and the Anti-Defamation League described the meeting as frustrating.“The meeting that we just left was a disappointment,” said Color of Change president Rashad Robinson. “At this point, we were expecting a very clear answer to the demands we are making, and we did not get that.”Held on Zoom, the meeting was slightly over an hour, and it included a variety of policy team leads as well as chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and chief product officer Chris Cox. But while... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Over the past few weeks, dozens of people connected to the game industry have shared stories of abuse on Twitter. One company, in particular, Ubisoft, has had multiple allegations leveled against high-ranking employees, including executives Tommy François and Maxime Béland. In a story from Kotaku, Ethan Gach reports that employees of Ubisoft Toronto are speaking up to leadership “with grave concerns about ongoing reported harassment and an inability to feel safe or protected within our own studio” in a letter signed by more than 100 employees.The report includes several stories about behavior at Ubisoft, including a particularly disturbing incident in which Béland put his hands around a female employee’s neck. Sources describe a culture... Continue reading…

Images: eSkootr A group of Formula One and Formula E drivers is starting a new racing series that will pit competitors against each other on ultra-fast custom-built electric scooters. The series — dubbed “Electric Scooter Championship,” or “eSkootr” — is set to launch in 2021, and the launch video shows riders whizzing through city streets on Tron-style vehicles and wearing matching neon-accented gear.There are, unfortunately, few other details about the series, like how it’s being funded or who the competitors will be. All the organizers say is that the “category’s affordability removes the high barrier to entry seen in most other motorsport series, and its versatility means the series can recruit from a truly diverse cross-section of competitors –... Continue reading…

This week on The Vergecast interview series, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to founder and CEO of Luta Security Katie Moussouris.Moussouris has a long history in computer security, working at Microsoft and the Department of Defense creating their first bug bounty programs to incentivize catching and reporting security bugs and vulnerabilities in software systems.Nilay and Katie discuss the history of bug bounty programs, from the early iterations to the current state of affairs, from good to bad. Though Moussouris says the concept of hiring hackers to help make organizations more secure has numerous positives, the commercialization of the practice has created blindspots and other unintended incentives.Below is a lightly... Continue reading…

An artistic rendering of astronauts on the Moon, mining resources. | Image: NASA House appropriators don’t intend to substantially increase NASA’s budget, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s plans of sending astronauts back to the Moon by 2024.Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its latest funding bill for fiscal year 2021, detailing the budgets for all commerce, justice, and science agencies in the US. The bill would give NASA a total budget of $22.63 billion for next year, the same amount the agency received for 2020. However, it’s nearly $3 billion less than the $25.2 billion the Trump administration called for in the president’s budget request — a hefty amount intended to fund an ambitious lunar return.NASA has been very vocal about its goal to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Employees at Away are calling for founder and co-CEO Steph Korey to immediately resign, after a photo of her dressed as a Native American surfaced on Twitter last Friday.In an anonymous letter to Korey’s co-founder Jen Rubio, and her co-CEO Stuart Haselden, employees wrote: “How many times will we have our jobs disrupted by this woman who clearly has a history of poor judgement? We all have financial stakes in this business and she is putting that into jeopardy for all of us. She is turning Away into an embarrassment. We cannot be complicit any longer. Steph Korey must go.”It’s the second anonymous letter Away executives have received in recent weeks. The first came after Korey posted a series of Instagram stories attacking the media... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Instagram on Tuesday started the official rollout of its pinned comment feature, which the company first began testing back in May. The feature lets any user pin three comments on a post to the top of a thread, and it’s designed to allow the author of a post to better control the tone of the comment thread through highlighting positivity and moderating more negative and abusive responses that show up below the pinned comments.The original test coincided with Instagram releasing a tool for the bulk-deletion of comments, which has been live for two months. To pin a comment, just swipe left to reveal the options for reporting, deleting, and replying. Now, on the far left of those three options, you should see a pushpin icon.

Image: Google Gmail for iPad’s latest update brings long-awaited support for split-view multitasking, meaning you no longer have to open a full Gmail screen to check or send new emails.Google says the feature will work with any other iOS apps that support split-view multitasking. You will need to swipe up at the bottom of the screen to display the dock, touch, and then hold another app, then drag it up to either the left or right side of your screen to open the window in Split View.Apple introduced the split-screen feature as part of iOS 9 in 2015. However, tech companies have been slow to support the feature, including Adobe with Lightroom and Spotify, which added support within the last year. Google added split-view support for Google Chrome in... Continue reading…

The Mmhmm desktop app. | Image: Mmhmm The future of video chat will look more like Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update than it will Zoom. That’s the bet being made by Phil Libin, who led Evernote as CEO during its glory days and has returned to the intersection of consumer and enterprise software with a virtual camera that could reshape video communication. The product has a name that is ridiculous even by the standards of Silicon Valley — it’s called Mmhmm — and the company said today that it had raised $4.5 million led by Sequoia Capital.Mmhmm — “it’s important to have a name you can say while eating,” Libin jokes — is a virtual camera that can be used with Zoom, Google Meet, YouTube, and other video streaming services. Turn it on, and the app transforms your room into... Continue reading…

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace in Brasília, Brazil, on June 30, 2020. | Photo by Andre Borges/NurPhoto via Getty Images Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced today. He is 65 years old. Over the weekend, he attended a US Independence Day event with US Ambassador Todd Chapman. Neither Bolsonaro nor Chapman wore a mask at the event.Like US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has downplayed the risks and extent of the COIVD-19 pandemic and said that the danger was over-exaggerated by the media. Brazil now has the second-worst outbreak in the world, behind the United States. To date, there have been more than 1.6 million cases in the country and more than 65,000 people have died of the disease. Stores and businesses are fully reopened in cities around the country, and masks aren’t required.CNN Brasil reported Monday... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The US is considering a ban on Chinese social media apps like the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday.“We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it,” Pompeo said. “With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”Over the last few years, US lawmakers have grown increasingly concerned over TikTok’s handling of user data and the relationship between its parent company — the Beijing-based ByteDance — and the Chinese government. Lawmakers allege that TikTok could be pressured into handing over data or other intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party.A TikTok spokesperson responded to Pompeo’s remarks Tuesday... Continue reading…

Image: Samsung Samsung’s new Galaxy A71 5G UW is launching on July 16th. At $649, it will be the most affordable way to access Verizon’s 5G millimeter-wave network. Preorders for Verizon’s edition of the phone, which was announced last month, will begin on July 9th.The A71 5G UW has a 6.7-inch OLED display, 128GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and a 4,500mAh battery. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G processor and features a quad-camera system — including a 64-megapixel main lens, 12-megapixel wide lens, 5-megapixel macro, and a 5-megapixel depth camera — as well as a 32-megapixel selfie shooter. Samsung’s Scene Optimizer, a feature of recent Galaxy phones, will try to detect what you’re photographing and automatically adjust settings (such as... Continue reading…

Amazon Prime Video is rolling out user profiles for family members and friends who share Prime accounts, the company announced today.Each account will allow for up to six user profiles. One profile will default as the primary account, with five additional profiles allowed. These can be regular accounts or kids accounts. The kids account will restrict what type of content is shown, similar to how other children’s accounts on streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max work. Amazon did not note how many profiles can stream at once, but The Verge has reached out for clarification.Profiles are linked through Amazon’s wallet sharing tool. The feature allows customers to share their payment methods with another Amazon account that has set... Continue reading…

Illustration by Ana Kova It could take decades before cuts to greenhouse gases actually affect global temperatures, according to a new study. 2035 is probably the earliest that scientists could see a statistically significant change in temperature — and that’s only if humans take dramatic action to combat climate change.Be ready for the long haulSpecifically, 2035 is the year we might expect to see results if we switch from business-as-usual pollution to an ambitious path that limits global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius — the target laid out in the Paris climate agreement. The world isn’t on track to meet that goal, so we might not see the fruits of our labor until even later. That means policymakers need to be ready for the long haul, and we’re all... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Leading up to Gmail’s 15th birthday last year, Google added a lot of productivity and machine learning tools to its email service. (It may also have been trying to make up for the disappearance of its Inbox email app, but that’s an argument for another day.) Additions included a way for Gmail to write email subject lines for you and schedule an email to send at a later time.It can be a little confusing to navigate some of Gmail’s features. In this tutorial, we’re going to focus on Gmail’s auto-completion tools Smart Reply and Smart Compose, which are designed to save time.Letting a machine help write emails and subject lines for you can feel a bit unusual, but if you’re open to at least trying it out for yourself, here are the ways to... Continue reading…

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google Plus, the company’s failed social network, is officially gone as of today. After Google Plus personal accounts were shut down last year, Google announced that it would be replacing the social network for enterprise users with Google Currents. Currents is generally available starting today, and the Google Plus Android and iOS apps have been rebranded to Google Currents to reflect the change (via 9to5Google).Currents, given its enterprise focus, is designed to help people within organizations communicate with each other. Users can post and comment on discussions and can see content in a News Feed-like “home stream,” which can be ranked by relevance or chronologically, according to Google. G Suite admins can also moderate... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google is rolling out a dark mode for its Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps on Android starting today.The tech giant says all Android users will gain access to the dark theme within the next two weeks. Users can activate the dark theme on Docs, Sheets, or Slides by going to the respective app’s settings. Google also says that the apps will automatically use your system theme, meaning if your device already has dark theme enabled, you will not have to enable it manually in these apps.Last year, Google promised to deliver dark mode to all of its first-party apps. It’s slowly added dark mode to a number of apps in the year since, including the Google app, Gmail, and Google Calendar, though some apps such as Google Maps do not have dark mode... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google, Facebook, and Twitter are pausing the processing of data requests from the Hong Kong government as they review a new security law that went into effect on July 1st. Google put its pause into place as soon as the law took effect last Wednesday.“[W]hen the law took effect, we paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities,” a Google spokesperson told The Verge in an email, “and we’ll continue to review the details of the new law,” the spokesperson said.Twitter also halted its handling of government requests as of July 1st, with Facebook announcing its pause on Monday, The New York Times reported.Social media platforms typically produce private user information in response to valid court orders,... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Bird, the beleaguered e-scooter company, received a loan worth between $5 million and $10 million from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in late April. The company said in its application to the Treasury Department and the Small Business Association that the loan would help it retain 341 jobs. But less than a month before, Bird laid off over 400 employees, or about 30 percent of its staff.But Bird contends that it should not be included in the government’s list. “Bird was erroneously listed as a company that filed for a PPP Loan,” a company spokesperson said. “We did not apply for nor did we receive a PPP Loan. We decided as a company not to file an application as we did not want to divert critical funding from... Continue reading…

Sennheiser M2 | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Audio company Sennheiser received between $2 million and $5 million as part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to newly released US Department of Treasury data. It’s one of many privately held tech companies to receive support through the program, which offers small businesses forgivable loans that can be spent on payroll, rent, or utility costs.Treasury data indicates that the loan is intended to help Sennheiser retain 128 jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. (The German company employed a total of 2,800 employees in 2019, approximately 10 percent of whom were based in the Americas.) While we don’t know the precise dollar number, it’s one of the PPP’s larger payments — single loans top out at $10 million, and the... Continue reading…

Illustration: Vulture and Photos Courtesy of Quibi The streaming platform raised $1.75 billion and secured a roster of A-list talent, but it can’t get audiences to notice Continue reading…

Chinese EV startups Byton, Nio, and Karma Automotive were among the companies that received the largest loans from the government’s COVID-19-related Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in April, with each receiving loans of between $5 million and $10 million, according to new data released by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA).Byton received its loan shortly after it furloughed hundreds of employees in April, according to the US government. The company — which is backed by Chinese state-owned automaker First Auto Works — said in its application to the Treasury Department and the Small Business Association (SBA) that the loan would help it retain 387 jobs. But just last week, the startup announced it is h... Continue reading…

At its best, Pokémon Go blends the real world and the virtual, thanks to its use of location-based gameplay and augmented reality. That sensation really comes across in a new 30-second commercial for the game, directed by none other than Rian Johnson, best known for films like Knives Out and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.The short clip features players literally peeling away the world around them to unveil hidden pokémon, and it was actually produced remotely; the production team was in New Zealand, while Johnson directed from Los Angeles.“Pokémon Go has kept me engaged with my friends remotely as I’ve been practicing physical distancing these past few months,” Johnson said in a statement. “As a longtime Pokémon trainer, it was a real... Continue reading…

Drones remind citizens in Seoul, South Korea, to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines. | Photo: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport South Korea has done a remarkably good job of combating the COVID-19 pandemic. But as experts warn of a second wave of infections, the government has organized an unusual way to both thank its frontline medical staff for their hard work and remind citizens to abide by preventative measures: a drone light show over the Han River in the capital of Seoul.The 10-minute light show features 300 dronesAs reported by France 24 and Al Jazeera, the show took place last Friday, July 6th, and featured 300 drones in a 10-minute show. The display was organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and was intended to thank frontline health care workers.It began with messages reminding citizens to wear masks, wash their hands, and... Continue reading…

I spend a lot of time trying to personalize every aspect of my laptop: pasting stickers on the top, separating all of my icons into folders on my desktop, and, thanks to a little trick I learned on TikTok, using my favorite GIFs as backgrounds on Google Chrome.It’s a super simple process that makes using Google Chrome feel a little more personalized. All it takes is a few seconds and you go from having a dreary white non-background like this: to this very good GIF of Marceline performing a song in Adventure Time. To customize your own Google Chrome page, here’s what to do:

I spend a lot of time trying to personalize every aspect of my laptop: pasting stickers on the top, separating all of my icons into folders on my desktop, and, thanks to a little trick I learned on TikTok, using my favorite GIFs as backgrounds on Google Chrome.It’s a super simple process that makes using Google Chrome feel a little more personalized. All it takes is a few seconds and you go from having a dreary white non-background like this: to this very good GIF of Marceline performing a song in Adventure Time. To customize your own Google Chrome page, here’s what to do:

HyperJuice’s 100W gallium nitride (GaN) USB-C charger — which the company says is the first of its kind — is now available to buy for $99.99, following a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall.The new charger is only about the size of a deck of cards (the brick itself measures 3.36 x 2.39 x 1.14 inches), thanks to the gallium nitride technology that’s far more energy-efficient than traditional silicon, allowing for smaller chargers that waste less energy.Hyper’s new brick offers a total of four ports: two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. The USB-C ports support the USB-C PD 3.0 specification and can output the full 100W between them. (For example, you can change a USB-C laptop at the full 100W with a single plug or divide it... Continue reading…

Microsoft is planning to launch its xCloud game streaming service later this year as part of Xbox Game Pass, and accessory makers are getting ready. 8BitDo, a company that specializes in retro and modern alternative gamepads, has adapted its retro NES controller for Microsoft’s Project xCloud service.The tiny Bluetooth controller is designed to be compatible with all Android smartphones and tablets, and it’s officially licensed as a compatible xCloud and Xbox controller. The built-in battery should last for around 18 hours, and there’s a USB-C port for charging. The controller even ships with a clip to attach to phones, with adjustable positioning. 8BitDo has worked with Microsoft to license this Xbox controller and... Continue reading…

Microsoft will hold its Xbox Series X games event on July 23rd at 9AM PT / 12PM ET. The company is planning on showing games made by its Xbox Game Studios, including Halo Infinite. 343 industries briefly teased Halo Infinite in a trailer a couple of weeks ago, revealing that The Banished antagonists are returning for the next big installment in the Halo franchise.There will be more than just Halo, though. Microsoft has been steadily acquiring game studios, and the company now has 15 Xbox Game Studios in total. Xbox fans are now hoping to see what those studios are working on for the Xbox Series X. Microsoft recently created a Fable placeholder Twitter account, leading fans to wonder if the game might make a return during July’s Xbox... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s AirPods Pro truly wireless earbuds are $220 at Verizon, which is $30 off the usual $250 price. Most deals we see for this model usually range from $15 to $20, and saving this much is far less common. Compared to the standard AirPods, this model features active noise cancellation, improved sound, a wireless charging case, and a more customizable fit with ear tips. They will soon also feature Apple’s new spatial audio feature for a more immersive sound experience. If you’re an iPhone owner, my colleague Chris Welch thinks these are the best option available to you.You don’t need to be a Verizon subscriber to get in on this deal. It’s available online or you can place an order to pick it up at one of its physical retail locations... Continue reading…

The Last of Us Part II developer Naughty Dog has issued a statement condemning harassment after several members of the creative team were subjected to abuse and hateful messages. Since the game’s launch on June 19th, members of the team, including co-director Neil Druckmann and voice actor Laura Bailey, have posted several examples of abusive, and often violent, messages sent their way. Yesterday, the studio made a statement in support of their staff.“Although we welcome critical discussion, we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast,” the studio posted on Twitter. “Their safety is our top priority, but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge One of the startup’s most exciting projects is finished, but will anyone see it? Continue reading…

Emma Robbins’ grandparents used to live in a traditional hogan like the one above, pictured with a 275-gallon water tank outside. They later moved into a home with two bathrooms. But without running water, the bathrooms were used as storage spaces. | DigDeep No running water is making it harder to fight COVID-19 Continue reading…

Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images Uber will acquire food delivery service Postmates in a $2.65 billion all-stock deal intended to give the ride-hail company a much-need jolt after its offer to buy Grubhub fell apart amid antitrust scrutiny.Postmates’ app will continue to run separately after the acquisition, but it’ll be able to tap into a merchant and delivery network combined with Uber Eats. Uber says this will mean more restaurant options for consumers and more efficient deliveries for drivers who pick up multiple orders at a time. The companies intend for the deal to close in Q1 2021.Uber desperately needs its meal delivery division, Uber Eats, to make up for the huge losses it’s been experiencing since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Food delivery is not... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook is testing Instagram’s Reels feature in India, Business Insider reports. Reels is a video editing tool designed to let people create TikTok-style 15 second videos that can be shared on their Instagram Stories, sent via DM, or posted to a section of the Explore tab called Top Reels.The news emerged just days after the Indian government banned TikTok along with 58 other China-based apps. Business Insider reports that some Instagram users in India have already started receiving Instagram’s new feature in an update, and a Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the company plans to release the feature more widely.“We’re planning to start testing an updated version of Reels in more countries”“We’re planning to start testing an... Continue reading…