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For a moment, it looked Roku owners would be losing the highest-quality way to stream the Super Bowl for free, when the set-top box maker announced Thursday that it would abruptly pull Fox’s apps off the platform a day ahead of the game. But that won’t actually be happening. Late Friday, Roku and Fox announced that they’ve reached a new agreement that will ensure the Fox apps keep on working without pause — and they’ll be restored to the Roku app store this weekend ahead of the game, Roku tells The Verge . “We are delighted that we reached an agreement with FOX to distribute FOX channels on the Roku platform. Roku customers can stream the Super Bowl through FOX Now, Fox Sports and NFL in addition to other ways,” reads a statement from... Continue reading…

Phones are rounded rectangles now. Have been for years — ever since the iPhone killed the QWERTY slider dead. They’re getting rounder and rounder, in fact, as manufacturers continue to figure out how to bend OLED screens and raw metals to their will. They’re far too samey, unless you count an array of sci-fi inspired foldables that are so far basically just recreating the flip phone . I want something edgier to exist in the world. And now, just as Tesla’s Cybertruck shook up the world of automobile design , a Cybertruck-inspired phone has emerged to maybe, possibly, OK probably not inspire the same sort of design in phones. The exorbitantly priced Cyberphone , which is effectively just a fancy shell around an Apple iPhone 11 Pro, was... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter says it has permanently suspended markets blog Zero Hedge’s Twitter account, @ zerohedge , for violating the company’s platform manipulation policy . On Wednesday, Zero Hedge posted a blog that doxxed a Chinese scientist and strongly suggested without evidence that the scientist created the strain of coronavirus that’s currently spreading around the world. That blog lists a name, photo, email, and phone number that are reportedly tied to the scientist, and suggested that readers “pay [him] a visit” if they wanted to know “what really caused the coronavirus pandemic.” BuzzFeed News reported on Zero Hedge’s blog that doxxed the scientist earlier this evening, ahead of the Twitter suspension. The Verge is not publishing a link to Zero... Continue reading…

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge In our review of the Amazon Echo Show 5 smart display , Dan called it the “smart alarm clock to get.” But I think I might move mine to the kitchen, right next to the garbage can. That’s partly because Amazon has just added the ability for the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8’s camera to scan barcodes, and automatically add those items to your shopping list (via VentureBeat ). I might do that when I’ve got an empty package I’m about to toss in the trash. You start by saying “Alexa, scan this to my shopping list.” Up pops this screen: Image by Sean Hollister / The Verge I just tried it with a milk carton, orange juice, and a New Balance shoebox, and it seems to work fine in each case, adding each to my Alexa shopping list.... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge A California man has pled guilty to hacking Nintendo’s servers to steal confidential files, including taking information about the Nintendo Switch months before it was announced, the US Department of Justice revealed today According to the DOJ, Ryan Hernandez, 21, and an associate phished a Nintendo employee in 2016 to get access to and steal confidential information from the company. In October 2017, the FBI contacted Hernandez and his parents to ask him to stop hacking, at which time Hernandez “confirmed that he understood the consequences of any future hacking.” Hernandez hacked into multiple Nintendo servers However, from at least June 2018 to June 2019, Hernandez continued to illegally access confidential corporate information,... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Twitter announced a subtle design change to its iOS app today that may go a long way in both making conversations easier to parse and to join. The change, which looks like it’s a change on Twitter’s end that does not require an update, is to the threading feature in the Twitter timeline, which currently does a poor job of differentiating between standard tweets and replies. The update now draws a concrete line between a parent tweet and the replies, with the replies indented slightly and connected by the series of vertical and horizontal lines. It makes a Twitter conversation look effectively like thread of connected notes. The feature was first demoed in the company’s experimental twttr beta app back in spring of last year . It only... Continue reading…

Netflix Netflix has once again extended its contract with Adam Sandler and his production company, Happy Madison Productions, for another four films for the streaming service. The company also announced that Sandler’s comedy Murder Mystery was its most popular movie in 2019, and the single most-watched piece of content on its service last year in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Singapore, and UAE. Sandler first signed a deal with Netflix to produce and star in four films exclusively for the streaming service back in 2014, and re-upped that deal for another four films in 2017 . Since then, the actor / comedian has starred in several films: The Ridiculous 6, The Do-Over, Sandy Wexler, The Week Of, and Murder... Continue reading…

Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Here is your weekly reminder that every Friday, The Verge releases a tech news audio roundup via RSS feed for all to listen to at no extra cost. This week on The Verge’s flagship podcast The Vergecast , Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Paul Miller discuss the iPad’s place in the world after ten years on the market, the results from Apple’s first quarter of the fiscal year 2020, and the changes Google made with the design of their flagship Search product. There’s even more in between all of that — from Paul’s weekly segment “ The cloud, but for kids ” to the latest update in the ongoing streaming wars — so please, listen through to get it all. Stories discussed this week: Former Windows chief reveals Microsoft’s reaction to the iPad … A... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Super Bowl LIV is happening Sunday, February 2nd. So if you’re hunting for a device upgrade that will get you the best picture quality, there isn’t much time left to have orders delivered by game day — but you can still make it happen. We’ve pulled together a few relevant deals, as well as some general deals you should know about. Assuming you already have a 4K TV that’s compatible with HDR10, the only set-top boxes that will stream the Super Bowl in glorious 4K HDR (well, it’s upscaled from 1080p, but it should look good nevertheless) are Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K and the Amazon Fire TV Cube. The more affordable option, the Fire TV Stick 4K, is $15 off of its usual price. That makes it $34.99 — likely for a limited time. The Fire TV... Continue reading…

Last year, after setting off a firestorm around YouTube’s harassment policies that even prompted a response from the company’s CEO , Carlos Maza disappeared from YouTube. Now he’s back, but this time, he’s doing it all on his own. Maza is leaving Vox.com , which produced his old show, to become a full-time media critic on YouTube. Like he did with his old series, Strikethrough , Maza intends to use his new channel to talk about media, propaganda, and socially conscious topics that relate to how people get their news from a progressive perspective. With his newfound independence, he also wants to experiment with the presentation, making it a little funnier, a little more theatrical, and potentially a lot longer, he tells The Verge in a... Continue reading…

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Super Bowl is almost here, and this year — for the first time ever — you’ll be able to watch and stream it in 4K and HDR. It’s the culmination of the work Fox has been putting in earlier this season, which saw the first 4K broadcasts of NFL games in the US for Thursday Night Football . Fox’s plan is to take that Thursday night experience and expand on it for Super Bowl LIV, though. In addition to broadcasting just the game, as it had for Thursday Night Football , the entirety of the Super Bowl broadcast will be in (upscaled) 4K and HDR. That means that in addition to the actual game, the star-studded halftime show with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez will be in 4K HDR, as will all the pregame and postgame coverage. Even the commercials are... Continue reading…

It’s the beginning of 2020, and everyone who works for a living is starting to get in their annual tax forms. Whether you’re a full-time worker dealing with a single 1040 or a freelancer / gig worker getting a series of 1099s, the fastest way to pay the piper these days is to do it online. The IRS offers a series of directions on its website to help US citizens figure out their taxes, report those taxes, and send in payments (or ask for refunds) using its e-File online method. Here’s a rundown of what’s available and where you can find it. How do I file online? There are several ways to file online, depending on your income and your comfort level in dealing with the whole income tax process. If your adjusted gross income... Continue reading…

Image: Aston Martin Aston Martin has officially delayed all plans for electric vehicles after taking on a desperately-needed new investment from Formula One billionaire Lawrence Stroll. The company says it has indefinitely suspended its first electric car, the Rapide E, after refusing to confirm rumors about the project earlier this month . And it has pushed the launch of its all-electric Lagonda sub-brand back from 2022 to “no earlier than” 2025. The British luxury automaker decided to take on up to £500 million (around $657 million) from Stroll in exchange for handing over almost 20 percent of the company. This comes after Aston Martin suffered what CEO Andy Palmer called a “very” bad 2019 , where the company lost more than £100 million despite increased... Continue reading…

One of Final Fantasy VII ’s most memorable sequences happens early in the game. Cloud, in an effort to save one of his friends, disguises himself as a woman to gain access to the house of a lecherous mafia-like figure, complete with a very Bachelor -esque moment. Since Square Enix announced Final Fantasy VII Remake , many fans have wondered if, and how, the developer would reimagine the trip to Wall Market. The latest trailer for the game briefly addresses this, and the answer is, flamboyantly. Much like in the original, the game will send Cloud to the Honey Bee Inn for some makeup and pampering. As a unknown character in the trailer explains, “true beauty is an expression of the heart, a thing without shame, to which notions of gender... Continue reading…

Quibi understands that most people are probably still unaware of what Quibi is, but the streaming service run by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman is hoping a new Super Bowl commercial will clear things up. The commercial is based on a bank heist gone wrong, leaving the robbers with “four to 10 minutes to spare — the perfect amount of time to watch a Quibi,” according to Quibi’s press release. The getaway driver can’t meet his bank robber friends because he’s in the middle of a Quibi show, and another member of the crew soon finds himself enamored with Chance the Rapper’s Punk’d series . Yes, that’s based on the popular early ’00s MTV show of the same name, hosted by Ashton Kutcher. None of this really describes what Quibi is, though.... Continue reading…

Photo by Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images Coronaviruses have caused three outbreaks in humans in the past 20 years: they were responsible for SARS in 2002, MERS in 2012, and the ongoing outbreak spreading rapidly through China and around the world. While finding ways to prevent and treat this new virus is the most pressing priority, in the long term, scientists have their eye on ways to prevent and treat any coronavirus — so that they’re prepared for the next one to come along. “This is not a one-off,” says Timothy Sheahan, a coronavirus expert and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. “This is something that will continue to happen in the future.” The new coronavirus is a dangerous public health problem for China and... Continue reading…

Photo by Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/picture alliance via Getty Images The World Economic Forum’s plan to plant 1 trillion trees is backed by controversial science Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge The FCC has proposed an almost $13 million fine for a man it says was behind a series of racist and anti-semitic robocalling campaigns consisting of over 6,000 calls being placed across six states. The man is accused of using anti-semitic and racist tropes to attack political candidates, threaten a newspaper, and stoke racial hatred after the murder of a college student by an undocumented immigrant. There were six campaigns in total, the FCC alleges, which ranged from attacking political candidates in California, Florida, and Georgia (1,496, 766, and 583 calls respectively), threatening a newspaper in Idaho (750 calls), and spreading conspiracy theories about a trial in Virginia (2,023 calls). In the latter case, the FCC says the calls... Continue reading…

Microsoft is planning to block potentially unwanted apps from being downloaded through its Edge browser. Known as crapware or adware, these apps aren’t necessarily malware but could be toolbars, stuffed with annoying ads or notifications, or bundle crypto miners. Edge already uses a SmartScreen Filter to protect against phishing and malware, but this feature also optionally blocks downloads that contain this potentially unwanted code. The new feature is appearing in beta builds of Microsoft Edge, which suggests it will roll out to the stable channel soon. Microsoft isn’t enabling this feature by default, though. You’ll need to enable it from the privacy and services part of Edge settings. Google and Mozilla also offer... Continue reading…

Happy Friday — the Super Bowl is this weekend and some of the ads have begun to be released. The two that have struck me the most are from Google and Amazon, each taking a different tack to sell you on their respective intelligent assistants. They are very different. Amazon got Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi leading off the joke about what life was like before Alexa, then people asking other people throughout history things they’d normally ask Alexa. I was with it until there was a joke about refusing to erase the Nixon tapes which maybe was a little too on the nose given this past year’s voice-recording scandals . In any case, the motive is clear: make Alexa seem like an integral part of our lives now, like electricity or running... Continue reading…

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and News Corp CEO Robert Thomson debut Facebook News last year One of the most common and beloved tropes on a reality show comes when a contestant announces, often with a melodramatic flourish, that they are “ not here to make friends .” It’s an ingenious and endlessly useful phrase — one that is both recognizably true (the contestant’s only real goal is victory) and terrifying in its implications. A person who is not here to make friends is signaling that they might do anything to win. They lie, they cheat, they throw a glass of pinot grigio in your face — whatever it takes to become become the bachelorette. I thought of the phrase on Wednesday while reading Mark Zuckerberg’s comments, during Facebook’s quarterly earnings call, about his new goal for the 2020s. He said (emphasis mine): “We’re also... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Facebook will remove false claims and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus if it risks causing harm to people who believe them, the company has announced . The policy applies across both Instagram and Facebook, and includes misinformation about fake cures or prevention methods, or any claim that could confuse people about what health resources are available. Hashtags used to spread misinformation on Instagram will also be blocked or restricted. The social media company has previously agreed to limit the reach of public health misinformation — such as anti-vax conspiracy theories — but removing content entirely is much rarer. The company says it has a policy of removing content when it creates the risk of physical harm. For example,... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Microsoft is launching a new Xbox Bounty Program to reward gamers, security researchers, and anyone else who discovers security vulnerabilities in the Xbox Live network and services. Bounty rewards will range from $500 up to $20,000, and Microsoft notes there could even be higher payouts depending on the quality of the report and the vulnerability impact. The biggest payouts will be handed out for critical remote code execution and elevation of privilege flaws, while security feature bypasses, information disclosure, spoofing, and tampering will all include rewards up to $5,000. As Microsoft is opening this up to gamers and anyone who has the skills to find flaws, it’s expecting high-quality reports with a detailed write-up or video... Continue reading…

Elon Musk, DJ, rocket man. Elon Musk is on a roll. Tesla stock is on a rocket ship and the Model Y SUV is coming early. Now, to share the good times, he’s released a music track on SoundCloud titled, Don’t Doubt Ur Vibe. Seriously. Musk has been teasing the track for several hours on Twitter. Now you can listen to it yourself, courtesy of “Emo G” Records (say it out loud and you’ll catch the pun): The track is a followup to Musk’s first single RIP Harambe , that payed homage to the beloved Cincinnati Zoo gorilla that suffered an untimely death. Elon Musk, aka, E “D” M according to his new Twitter handle, says he wrote the lyrics and performed the vocals himself. That’s really not saying too much unless you’re impressed by his ability to rhyme “you” with “true.”... Continue reading…

Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images Americans shouldn’t travel to China because of the risks from the new coronavirus, the US State Department said . US citizens currently in China should “consider departing using commercial means,” the alert said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo echoed the warning on Twitter. A Level 4 travel advisory is the most severe warning issued by the State Department, and it applies only to areas with a “greater likelihood of life-threatening risks.” . @StateDept is increasing the #China Travel Advisory to Level 4 – Do Not Travel. This is due to the spread of the novel #coronavirus throughout China & the @WHO determination that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. https://t.co/BIIUdavoP0 — Secretary Pompeo... Continue reading…

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Nintendo CEO and president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors today that the company has “no plans” to launch a new model of the Switch in 2020. Speaking as part of a corporate management policy briefing following yesterday’s release of financial results, Furukawa instead pointed to today’s announcement of the new Animal Crossing -branded model . “According to the conventional wisdom for dedicated video game platforms, Nintendo Switch should be entering the midway phase of the hardware lifecycle,” Furukawa said. “But we believe we have built a foundation on which we can pursue further growth opportunities for Nintendo Switch.” It wouldn’t really be surprising if there were no new Switch hardware this year. The original system came out in... Continue reading…

If you were hoping to watch the Super Bowl on your Roku TV or set-top box, I hope you don’t mind paying for streaming services like FuboTV, Sling or Hulu, because your existing cable subscription is no good as of today — Roku is pulling all of its Fox apps off of the platform, effective tomorrow, one day before the Big Game. That might strike you as sudden, considering we reported this very morning that Fox Sports was working hard to bring a 4K HDR stream of the Super Bowl to Roku’s streaming sticks, pucks, and TVs. But minutes ago, Fox Sports removed references to Roku from multiple spots on its Super Bowl website, and we confirmed with Roku that seven channels in total are leaving... unless Fox and Roku strike a deal. ... Continue reading…

Nintendo is releasing an Animal Crossing -themed Switch on March 13th, just one week before the launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it’s one of the best-looking Switch models yet. Nintendo says you’ll be able to pre-order the themed console at select retailers soon. This is the full-size Switch, which means it can be played in handheld mode or on a TV by dropping the Switch into the (Nook family-adorned) dock. It also comes with detachable Joy-Con controllers, and the colors on them look amazing. Image: Nintendo This model of the Switch also has an embossed design on the back that’s just awesome. Image: Nintendo If you do pick this up, though, you should be aware that Animal Crossing: New... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Searching Google for “coronavirus” will now send users to a curated search results page with resources from the World Health Organization, safety tips, and news updates, Google and the WHO announced today . This effort, which is just one of Google’s SOS Alerts , is now live. Google also announced a $250,000 direct grant from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, that will go to the Chinese Red Cross to help support coronavirus relief efforts. To help support relief efforts, @Googleorg issued a $250,000 direct grant to the Chinese Red Cross. Additionally we launched an internal campaign inviting Googlers to donate. So far, https://t.co/ldmgae16C7 and Googlers have raised over $800K USD (3.5M rmb). — Google Communications... Continue reading…

Photo by Andrei Makhonin\TASS via Getty Images Moscow is the latest major city to introduce live facial recognition cameras to its streets, with Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announcing that the technology is operating “on a mass scale” earlier this month, according to a report from Russian business paper Vedomosti . It follows news earlier this week that London is integrating live facial recognition into daily police activities, with the Metropolitan Police deploying cameras in busy tourist and shopping areas to spot individuals “wanted for serious and violent offences.” Privacy campaigners say the technology turns public spaces into “virtual identity parades” Facial recognition has been used by police for years to identify individuals in archive footage, but the deployment of live facial... Continue reading…

“What if the Untitled Goose Game was your entire computer?” asked nobody but Sam Chiet until this week. 18-year-old Chiet has created an app for Windows PCs that spawns a virtual goose to cause mayhem on your desktop. Much like the game, this goose is annoying and will spread virtual mud all over your screen while honking profusely. It also drags memes or cartoons above your apps, but don’t dare try to close them otherwise this wild fowl will grab hold of your mouse pointer and mess with you. If you remember BonziBuddy from 1999 then this is similar to that odd era of computing, but way more annoying and strangely adorable. If you leave it running for 30 minutes, you’ll probably come back to your PC and find the goose has run truly wild,... Continue reading…

This Valentine’s Day, let that special someone know your love is as infinite as a GIF that loops forever. Giphy is partnering with “video printing” company Infinite Objects to sell six Valentine’s-themed GIFs that are memorialized on a digital display and will sell for $49 each. The original GIFs were created by Giphy Studios, the company’s in-house creative agency, and they feature cute animations like cherries, cats, and dinosaurs in love. But $49 sounds like a lot for something that’s basically a digital photo frame with even less functionality since the videos can’t be swapped. Infinite Objects’ aim is to be more of an art collectible than a gadget. Its pieces are normally editioned displays that start around the $250 price point and... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge In four days, tens of thousands of people will descend on Miami to watch Super Bowl 2020, where San Francisco will battle Kansas City for dominance and, more importantly, bragging rights. For the live-streaming platforms Caffeine and Twitch, however, the big game is happening before Sunday’s kickoff — both are hosting their own celebrations, which pair athletes, celebrities, and gamers in head-to-head faceoffs. Both platforms are in Miami for the same thing: to get more people to care about live-streaming. Twitch is hosting the Twitch Rivals Fortnite Streamer Bowl, which is roughly what it sounds like. Pro streamers are set to play a duos tournament with NFL players on Thursday at 6PM ET, with $500,000 in prize money going to charity.... Continue reading…

Image: GMC General Motors has confirmed it’s resurrecting the Hummer nameplate for a new all-electric truck that will have 1,000 horsepower on offer and go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in three seconds, according to new teaser images and videos released today. The new electric Hummer truck will break cover during a Super Bowl ad this coming Sunday, and will be treated to a full reveal on May 20th. It’s due out in late 2021. The resurrected Hummer will be made and sold under the GMC brand at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck factory, which the automaker is pumping $2.2 billion into as it gears up to mass-produce electric vehicles. It’s alive! GM is pulling this Frankenstein move a decade after it retired the Hummer in 2010. At the time, the boxy behemoth had... Continue reading…

Image: Private Division The Outer Worlds , the Obsidian-developed first-person RPG, is releasing on the Nintendo Switch on March 6th, the company announced today. The game’s Switch port was announced in July last year , before an investor call confirmed that it would arrive in early 2020 . Now, however, we know the exact date it will arrive. Its debut on the Nintendo Switch follows versions released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in October last year. Created by the writers of the original Fallout games, The Outer Worlds is the kind of open-ended RPG that’s designed to let you approach its missions however you see fit. It ranks among some of the best games released last year , and it’s well worth a play if you’ve been holding out for a more portable version. C... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung’s Galaxy Book S laptop that runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx processor is now available for preorder at Samsung.com starting at $999.99, and it will start shipping on February 13th. Samsung is giving out $100 gift cards toward Samsung PCs, tablets, and accessories if you buy one before release date. Additionally, it will be available for purchase from the Microsoft Store and Verizon on the same day, with Sprint stocking the machine on February 14th. The ARM-based laptop that runs Windows 10 was unveiled at Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 event last summer, but missed its original September launch window. Samsung has been mum on why the machine was delayed, but whatever the reason may be, now seems like a good time to launch, seeing as... Continue reading…

In 2011, designer Zach Gage decided to try something different: make a game in a genre he hated. The result was SpellTower , a mashup of word games and puzzlers, which went on to become one of his most popular titles to date, with more than 1 million downloads. Its approachable nature reached a varied audience, including everyone from traditional gamers battling for a high score to grandparents who would play it every morning. But over the years, as new features were added, the game become somewhat unwieldy. People were still playing, but there were bugs and the code was a mess. “For years I’ve been thinking ‘The right thing to do is to make a reboot,’” Gage explains. And he did just that: today sees the release of SpellTower+ on iOS . G... Continue reading…

Image: @evleaks The first photographs of Motorala’s stylus-equipped Moto have appeared online, just days after the first image of the device was leaked by Evan Blass . The photograph, which comes to us from 91Mobiles , shows the rear of the phone for the first time. 91Mobiles also has some initial details on what the specs of the device are likely to be. In this photo of the rear of the device we can see what appears to be a similar camera setup to last year’s Moto G8 Plus , which includes a 48-megapixel main primary sensor, as well as what 91Mobile reports is a 117-degree wide-angle camera. There’s also two more mystery sensors alongside a re-positioned camera flash. Not pictured, crucially, is the device’s stylus, which means there’s a chance that this... Continue reading…

It’s not every day we get to talk about a good old-fashioned utility app update. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re a dying breed, but the Apple App Store platform dynamics of recent years have made their row much harder to hoe. Which is one reason I’m happy to say that if you’re a Mac or iPhone user (or, ideally, both), you should absolutely go check out the newly updated Fantastical apps . There are a few new features and parity across platforms — I personally am excited for a calendar app that integrates with several to-do apps. The thing about this update that may grab some attention is that it is moving to a subscription model . Historically, this kind of move has sparked consternation, but I’m not feeling any of that. It’s $4.99... Continue reading…

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Huawei overtook Apple to become the world’s second best selling smartphone manufacturer in 2019, according to reports from Strategy Analytics , Counterpoint Research , and Canalys. Over the course of the year, the Chinese manufacturer reportedly shipped around 240 million phones, compared to just under 200 million for Apple. Samsung retained its comfortable lead in first place, shipping just shy of 300 million devices. Xiaomi and Oppo rounded out the list of the top five manufacturers. The jump is especially surprising given Huawei’s continued presence on the USA’s entity list, which prevents the company from installing Google’s apps and services on its new devices, limiting their appeal outside of China. As a result, Huawei’s main... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge One of the year’s biggest stories at the intersection of technology and power is the Facebook Oversight Board. For the first time, a tech giant is seeking to give some of its power back to the people — in this case, in the form of an independent 40-member board that will serve as a kind of Supreme Court for content moderation. This week, Facebook announced that the board would likely begin hearing cases this summer — it also named the person who will lead the board’s staff , and released suggested bylaws. So, what are people saying about the news? At Wired , Steven Levy speculates that the board is likely to hear a case about Facebook’s policy against sending political ads out for fact-checking . A complaint by a target of a bogus... Continue reading…

Punxsutawney Phil being held up to the crowds in 2019. | Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images Since 1887, the residents of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania have maintained the belief that an immortal groundhog name Punxsutawney Phil can — and will — predict the end of winter. As popularized in the film Groundhog Day , each year on February 2nd, Phil is coaxed from his home in a tree stump and displayed to a baying crowd. If Phil “sees his shadow” there’ll be six more weeks of winter, say the top-hatted elders; if not, then an early spring is due. A robot groundhog would be more humane and more accurate, says PETA But it’s time for Punxsutawney to stop terrorizing an innocent rodent, says animal-rights group PETA. Instead, says the organization, Punxsutawney Phil should be replaced with an animatronic groundhog that uses AI to actually... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Nintendo had its strongest Switch quarter ever this holiday season, moving 10.81 million units to reach a total of 52.48 million sold as of the end of 2019. That means it’s now overtaken the SNES to become Nintendo’s third best-selling home console of all time behind the Wii and the NES. Pokémon Sword and Shield were a huge hit over the holiday season, moving more than 16 million copies. That’s almost 4 million more than Super Smash Bros. Ultimate registered in its launch quarter a year ago, although Pokémon went on sale about three weeks earlier. Luigi’s Mansion 3 was another big success, selling over 5 million copies. Nintendo’s Switch hardware sales are up about 15 percent year-on-year, which the company attributes partly to the... Continue reading…

Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images E-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has backtracked on his bizarre plan to find a girlfriend to take into space by way of reality TV show. Maezawa, the founder of Zozotown, made a significant downpayment on a private SpaceX flight around the Moon and had initially planned to take several artists with him, but later announced plans to solicit a romantic partner for the journey and beyond through an AbemaTV documentary to be called “Full Moon Lovers.” Now those dreams are dead, as Maezawa has requested the show’s cancellation citing “personal reasons.” “Despite my genuine and honest determination toward the show, there was a part of me that still had mixed feelings about my participation,” he writes on Twitter . “To think that 27,722... Continue reading…

Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images E-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has backtracked on his bizarre plan to find a girlfriend to take into space by way of reality TV show. Maezawa, the founder of Zozotown, made a significant downpayment on a private SpaceX flight around the Moon and had initially planned to take several artists with him, but later announced plans to solicit a romantic partner for the journey and beyond through an AbemaTV documentary to be called “Full Moon Lovers.” Now those dreams are dead, as Maezawa has requested the show’s cancellation citing “personal reasons.” “Despite my genuine and honest determination toward the show, there was a part of me that still had mixed feelings about my participation,” he writes on Twitter . “To think that 27,722... Continue reading…

Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images Netflix has ordered a live-action show based on One Piece , the colossally popular Japanese manga and anime franchise, as first reported by Deadline . It’s said to be a ten-episode series from publisher Shueisha and Tomorrow Studios, the studio also working on Netflix’s forthcoming Cowboy Bebop show . Steven Maeda ( The X-Files , Lost ) is reportedly the showrunner as well as writer and executive producer, with Matt Owens ( Luke Cage , Agents of SHIELD ) also writing and executive-producing. Further executive producer credits go to One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Tomorrow Studios’ Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements. Plans for the series were first announced in 2017, though Netflix wasn’t on board at that point. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: A One Piece... Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Samsung Electronics just released fourth-quarter earnings that told much the same story as the rest of 2019. Revenue was more or less flat year-on-year — up 1 percent to 59.9 trillion won ($50.7 billion) — while operating profit slid 34 percent to 7.1 trillion won ($6 billion). The primary reason for the decline remains the fall in prices of memory chips, Samsung’s biggest profit driver in recent years. The display panel business also saw profits fall year-on-year due to weak demand. The mobile division, on the other hand, did better than a year ago, with Samsung calling out “solid” flagship sales and the profitability of phones like the Galaxy A series. Samsung is hoping that the wider adoption of 5G in 2020 will improve its numbers... Continue reading…

Photo: Carlton Beener / Blizzard Entertainment The Overwatch League’s plans for a truly global e-sports league have taken a major hit. Today, Blizzard announced that the China-based games taking place in February and March planned for the 2020 season have been canceled following the outbreak of the coronavirus. In a statement posted this evening to Twitter , the league explained that the decision was made to “protect the health and safety of our players, fans, and staff.” “We hope fans have a safe and happy Lunar New Year, and we remain incredibly excited to play Overwatch League matches in China later this season,” the statement reads. “We’ll share more information about when and where the matches will take place at a later date.” pic.twitter.com/nLEPHrJZXS — Overwatch League... Continue reading…

Image: Epic Games Epic has announced an in-game Fortnite tournament for this weekend that’s timed with the Australian Open, and players who compete will have a shot to earn the game’s first-ever competition skin. The in-game item can only be earned by placing well in the tournament. But there is a catch — only players on its OCE (Oceania) or Asia servers can compete for the prize. If that’s you, and if your Fortnite account is level 15 or higher, Epic says you’ll be able to compete in the Summer Smash Cup, which takes place on February 1st and 2nd from 7PM AEDT to 10PM AEDT (3AM ET to 6AM ET). You’ll be able to play in 10 matches each day to earn in-game points for surviving a battle royale match for as long as you can and earning eliminations. You can... Continue reading…

Xinhua/Ding Ting via Getty Images The Chinese government has ordered the shutdown of Tesla’s new factory in Shanghai over coronavirus fears, which will delay the company’s production of the Model 3 there, executives announced in a call with investors . The ramp of the Model 3 production will be delayed by a week and a half and the shutdown may “slightly” impact the company’s profitability in the first quarter of 2020, Tesla finance chief Zach Kirkhorn said. “At this point we’re expecting a one to one-and-a-half week delay in the ramp of Shanghai built Model 3s due to a government required factory shutdown,” he said on the call. Tesla began delivering the first cars produced at its Shanghai factory at the end of 2019. The deliveries marked an important milestone for Tesla,... Continue reading…