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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Earlier this week during Apple’s earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that the iPad had experienced its most successful June quarter in nearly a decade. And now IDC is out with its latest worldwide shipment figures that underline Apple’s commanding lead over the tablet competition. After refreshing the iPad Air in 2020 and launching an upgraded iPad Pro earlier this year, Apple is next expected to update the iPad Mini . IDC estimates that Apple shipped 12.9 million iPads in the second quarter. Its nearest competition is Samsung, which hit 8 million shipments. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 tablets offer fantastic hardware and punchy OLED screens, but they remain hamstrung by Android’s less-than-stellar selection of tablet apps. Lenovo, which... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google has recently been selling a combo-package of the Stadia Controller and 2020 Chromecast as a limited-time promotion. But as spotted by 9to5Google , the company has now made the pair a permanent bundle that it’s calling the “play and watch” package. For $99.99, you get both the controller and streaming dongle. That’s a savings of $19 compared to buying both products separately. Google is also promoting the Chromecast ethernet adapter as a recommended accessory; if you want the absolute best Stadia experience, it’s probably a smart buy — and it’s a mere $9.99 ($10 off) when purchased alongside the bundle. In an effort to clear out inventory of the old, puck-shaped Chromecast Ultra, Google is discounting its Stadia Premiere Edition... Continue reading…

Photo by Bernd Muller/Redferns The official video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” has surpassed 1 billion plays on YouTube. The song became a lasting part of internet culture thanks to the Rickroll meme and reached the impressive milestone a couple days ago. Astley took to the video’s comments to share his gratitude, saying “amazing, crazy, wonderful!” In a video posted to Instagram, he added “the world is a wonderful and beautiful place, and I am very lucky.” With some songs having crossed as many as 7 billion views in recent years, the 1 billion club isn’t quite as prestigious as it once was. But the achievement goes to show the staying power of the Rickroll prank. The video hit daily views of 2.3 million on April Fools Day, according to B... Continue reading…

Nanoleaf’s canvas light panels are easy to set up and can display more than 16 million colors. | Image: Nanoleaf If you like your lighting to be on the adventurous side, rest assured that Nanoleaf’s canvas light panels aren’t made to be subtle. The touch-sensitive squares are flashy and versatile, with the ability to display more than 16 million colors and a modular design that lets you place them in a variety of patterns. The bright LED panels also work with all the major smart home platforms, and can cycle through a number of preset colors or respond to sound when in “Rhythm Mode,” a feature that’s just as suited for the ambient noise outside your bedroom as your favorite record. Right now, Costco members can purchase Nanoleaf’s Canvas Light Panel smarter pack with nine panels and everything needed to get started for $50, one of the better prices... Continue reading…

Image: Telegram Telegram has announced the latest new features and improvements making their way to the popular messaging app. Video is the focus this time around. After launching group video calls last month , those sessions are now able to tally up to 1,000 viewers. The maximum number of people able to participate and broadcast to the video call remains at 30, but you can have quite the audience now for “anything from online lectures to live rap battles,” according to the company. Video messages will also now come through at a higher resolution, and you can tap them for a larger view of the clip. When recording your own video messages, Telegram says that audio from your device will now keep playing as you do so, “so you can now sing along to your... Continue reading…

Illustration by Ari Liloan for The Verge Digital fan clubs are turning into single-purpose social networks Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge More disturbing allegations of Activision Blizzard’s reported culture of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination have been reported in recent days, following a huge lawsuit filed against the company by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) last week . Details in these stories may be challenging to read, so we are prefacing them with a content warning for descriptions of sexual harassment . On Thursday, The New York Times posted a story of extremely distressing accounts of Activision Blizzard’s culture. Here is one from Shay Stein, a former customer service employee: Ms. Stein, 28, who worked at Activision from 2014 to 2017 in a customer service role, helping gamers with problems and glitches, said she... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is holding a competition in hopes that hackers and researchers will be able to identify biases in its image cropping algorithm — and it’s going to be handing out cash prizes to winning teams ( via Engadget ). Twitter is hoping that giving teams access to its code and image cropping model will let them find ways that the algorithm could be harmful (such as it cropping in a way that stereotypes or erases the image’s subject). Those competing will have to submit a description of their findings , and a dataset that can be run through the algorithm to demonstrate the issue. Twitter will then assign points based on what kind of harms are found, how much it could potentially affect people, and more. The winning team will be awarded... Continue reading…

Decentralized social network Mastodon now has an official iPhone app. The nonprofit behind Mastodon launched the app on iOS today, supplementing an existing web version and several third-party apps for iOS, Android, and other platforms. The app is free and offers a similar feature set to Mastodon’s core service, although it doesn’t include Mastodon’s broad local and federated timelines. Mastodon describes the app as particularly geared toward getting new users on board the nontraditional social platform. As we’ve outlined before , Mastodon looks similar to Twitter but is built around independently run communities (and the ActivityPub protocol) rather than a single central network. You can create your account on a community of your choice... Continue reading…

A rendering of what the “Victorian Big Battery” will look like when completed. | Image: Neoen A Tesla Megapack caught fire today during initial testing of a highly anticipated new utility-scale battery in Victoria, Australia. Luckily, there were no injuries or disruptions to the local electricity supply, CNBC reports. The blaze posed no risk of spreading to the nearby community, according to Bloomberg , but it did trigger a toxic smoke warning for residents who were told to stay indoors, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The cause of the fire is still unclear. JUST IN: Fire crews are currently on the scene of a battery fire at Moorabool, near Geelong. Firefighters are working to contain the fire and stop it spreading to the nearby batteries. https://t.co/5zYfOfohG3 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/HAkFY27JgQ — 7NEWS Melbourne... Continue reading…

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast , where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. This week on The Vergecast, Nilay and Dieter bring back Verge managing editor Alex Cranz and Verge news editor Chaim Gartenberg to chat about the headlines. It’s earnings week once again. Unsurprisingly, all of the big tech companies made a lot of money this past quarter. Our podcast crew dives into the numbers behind the profits of Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, and Apple and what it means for each business’s future goals. The show also dedicates some time to discuss Intel’s business. Chaim leads the discussion after writing a... Continue reading…

Smoke rises over the mountains in Lytton, as firefighters battle the fires in British Columbia, July 6, 2021. | Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The devastating heatwave that struck the Northwest US and southwest Canada in June was “the most extreme summer heatwave” ever recorded in North America, according to a new analysis from nonprofit research group Berkeley Earth. That’s based on the magnitude of the heatwave, or how much warmer it was than normal. Record temperatures in the region reached roughly 20 degrees Celsius (or 36 °F) hotter than average in June. Canada recorded its hottest temperature ever on June 29th when the village of Lytton in British Columbia reached an astonishing 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit). Typical temperatures there in June are closer to 20 to 30 degrees Celsius (68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit). The consequences of that heat are... Continue reading…

The ridiculous sounds of social sites Continue reading…

Photo By: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images Elon Musk has had a busy Friday on Twitter. After flatly denying that he has ever spoken to Apple CEO Tim Cook in response to a wild story alleging he demanded to take over as the company’s CEO as part of an acquisition offer, Musk has now tweeted his support of Epic Games’ fight against Apple over App Store policies. “Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet,” he said . “Epic is right.” Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021 Epic is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Apple , arguing that its App Store rules, which allow Apple to take a 30 percent commission on many transactions on the App Store, are unfair and anti-competitive. P... Continue reading…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly demanded to become Apple’s CEO in a 2016 phone call with current Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to an upcoming book about Tesla. The story, shared by the Los Angeles Times , comes from Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by The Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins. As the book tells it, Cook suggested to Musk that Apple acquire Tesla, and Musk said he wanted to be CEO. Cook reportedly agreed, but Musk clarified that he wanted to be the CEO of Apple. “According to a former aide who heard (Musk’s) retelling of the exchange,” Cook said “Fuck you” before hanging up the phone. But Musk and Apple have both suggested that the conversation couldn’t have happened because Musk and Cook have... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The sweeping federal antitrust case against Google has given rise to a significant fight over data held by Microsoft, and the company is now facing a subpoena for millions of documents that could shed light on its attempts to compete with Google’s search engine. Having initially cooperated with prosecutors in building an antitrust case against Google, Microsoft could be obligated to produce millions more documents at the request of Google’s defense team. At a status hearing on Friday morning, Judge Amit Mehta heard arguments from both Google and Microsoft on the issue, but ultimately found more information was required before the court could give guidance as to how much internal data Microsoft would be required to produce. “No third... Continue reading…

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images Blue Origin’s protest against NASA’s decision to pick just one company to build its first human lunar lander was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the watchdog agency said Friday, also denying a similar protest from Dynetics. The decision keeps Blue Origin’s rival SpaceX the sole winner of NASA’s lucrative Moon lander program and hands a loss to Jeff Bezos, whose space company waged a months-long fight to win the same funding. Blue Origin had accused NASA of running afoul of contracting law when it shelved its proposal, along with Dynetics’, to instead give Elon Musk’s SpaceX a lone $3 billion contract to land a crew of humans on the Moon by 2024. The agency had said it could award up to two companies for the... Continue reading…

Photo: Marvel Studios How the team at Digital Domain destroyed a world Continue reading…

Normally $50 a pop, BuyDig is offering a trio of Google Nest Minis for nearly 60 percent off. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Like Amazon’s Echo Dot , the Google Nest Mini is a miniature take on the larger smart speakers that came before it. The compact device doesn’t boast the same sound quality as the Nest Audio , but it's impressive for its size, especially when mounted to a wall or placed in a smaller room. What’s more, it packs backlit volume buttons and many of the same features that have come to define the category, including the ability to answer voice queries, control your smart home, and play music, adding to its overall versatility. If you’re already tapped into the Google ecosystem or are looking for an inexpensive way to strew audio throughout your home, BuyDig is currently offering a three-pack of Google Nest Minis on eBay for $64 , significantly... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge Tesla agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company used a software update to reduce the maximum battery voltage for some of its Model S sedans, Reuters reports . The software update, which was released in 2019, resulted in slower charging speed and diminished range for around 1,743 vehicles, the plaintiffs alleged. As a result of the settlement, Tesla agreed to pay $625 to each of the affected vehicle owners. Tesla agreed to pay $625 to each of the affected vehicle owners “This amount is many times the prorated value of the temporarily reduced maximum voltage, and thus represents an excellent and efficient result for the Settlement Class,” the court document reads. “In return, the Settlement Class will release... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Lawmakers cling to flawed evidence while restricting care for trans youth Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you’re a TikTok creator, then you know how quickly those minutes of video can fly by. One of the ways you can move storytelling along is by using transitions between clips. While TikTok offers a handful of templates that resemble slideshow presentation transitions, these don’t seem to be very popular. Instead, many users opt for manual transitions that use video editing and recording tricks to make their video flow from one clip to the next. Some of these transitions are relatively simple and only require a couple of steps, while others need a little bit of planning. All the transitions serve a purpose, though, and that is to move the video along and keep pace with either the music or what the person is saying. Transitions can also... Continue reading…

Roscosmos Russia’s space agency blamed a “short-term software failure” for yesterday’s engine mishap with its new science module. The module’s thrusters unexpectedly fired hours after docking, shifting the International Space Station off its normal position. The software glitch caused the Nauka module to think it was supposed to back away from the station. The space station, a football field-sized research laboratory floating 270 miles up in low-Earth orbit, was shoved 45 degrees off track once Nauka’s thrusters started firing. NASA said it lost control of the station’s positioning minutes later, but it was eventually repositioned back to normal after thrusters from another Russian module counteracted Nauka’s errant firings. “Due to a short-term... Continue reading…

Fireside The Mark Cuban-funded and co-founded audio app Fireside has yet to publicly launch, but already it’s asking the limited creators on its platform for money. In an email sent to users late last night and viewed by The Verge , co-founder and CEO Falon Fatemi says she and the team are accepting investments through the month of August from anyone who’s interested. “If you believe in our vision, this is your chance to be part of it,” she writes. “Put your money where your mouth is :) (We did.)” The email says more details are to come and doesn’t disclose the deal terms, how the investments will work, what the app’s valuation is, or how much the team is hoping to raise. But the email does also make a couple other announcements about the future... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Now that Amazon’s Q2 earnings are in , it has submitted a 10-Q filing with the SEC that includes additional details like this eye-popping note about a fine imposed by Luxembourg’s National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) (via Bloomberg ). On July 16, 2021, the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (the “CNPD”) issued a decision against Amazon Europe Core S.à r.l. claiming that Amazon’s processing of personal data did not comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The decision imposes a fine of €746 million and corresponding practice revisions. We believe the CNPD’s decision to be without merit and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter. The largest GDPR fine to date was a €50 million penalty... Continue reading…

If it’s approved, the bipartisan infrastructure deal announced this week will make it easier for Americans to buy and own an electric car. But it won’t help meet President Joe Biden’s ambitious goal to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 . Experts in urban policy and electrification told The Verge that the money authorized for a nationwide network of EV chargers would have a measurable impact on Americans’ car-buying choices. The $1 trillion deal ($550 billion of which is new spending) includes $7.5 billion to fund Biden’s plan to build half a million EV chargers across the country, which will help mend the mostly fractured, occasionally broken system we currently have. A more dependable charging network will likely help juice EV sales... Continue reading…

Illustration by Ari Liloan for The Verge ‘We are delivery boys who want to raise our voices’ Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge This week, the dam broke. With COVID-19 surging around the United States and vaccination rates stagnating, federal agencies and state governments started announcing vaccine mandates for their workers. The Department of Veterans Affairs was the first federal agency to introduce a mandate, and Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that all federal employees would have to be vaccinated or face testing and other protocols. New York City and Los Angeles will also require city workers to get vaccinated. Private companies are doing the same. Google said Wednesday that employees would have to be vaccinated to come to the office, and Facebook and Lyft followed with their own announcements hours later. Some New York City restaurants are... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is a notoriously secretive company, and a cease and desist letter recently acquired by Motherboard sheds new light on exactly why, arguing that leaks harm accessory makers, consumers, and Apple itself. The C&D order reportedly sent to a Chinese citizen by Apple’s lawyers in China, says that leaks about Apple’s iPhone dimensions could mislead case manufacturers, who might make accessories that are incompatible with the final product. As Apple puts it, “third-party accessory manufacturers may develop and sell mobile phone cases and other accessories that are not actually compatible with the unreleased products.” Motherboard notes that the market for Apple accessories is estimated to be worth almost $20 billion worldwide. “The secret... Continue reading…

Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes on the balance beam during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. | Photo by Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images Figuring out how to watch the Olympics this year has been frustrating. NBC holds broadcasting rights to the Games in the US, so it naturally seized on the opportunity to boost subscribers to its streaming service, Peacock, by making it “the place to flock for the Games’ top moments.” Streaming the Olympics should’ve been as easy as signing up — except it wasn’t. Peacock’s coverage was a problem straight out of the gate. The opening ceremony wasn’t streamed live on the service at all (though the closing ceremony will be), even though it was streamed live on the NBC Olympics website. The service is paywalling men’s basketball, seemingly to boost Peacock’s paid plans. And while live broadcasts and on-demand coverage of most other games and... Continue reading…

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images The NBA and iHeartMedia, which owns iHeartRadio, will be launching more than 20 new co-produced podcasts as part of a multiyear partnership, the two companies announced. The first show is scheduled to debut in the fall. “The new shows will be produced using a wide variety of content from the NBA archives to tell the backstories of some of the greatest moments in sports history, along with a mix of the latest league news, player commentary, insider analysis, and much more,” according to a press release . The lineup could include daily shows as well as limited series, and it may pull from the NBA’s archives of content, according to Bloomberg . “We’ve been looking for the right partner to help bring our archives to life,” David Denenberg,... Continue reading…

Image: Amazon Amazon has announced that its second-gen Fire TV Cube is now able to participate in two-way Zoom video calls. The company rolled out support for videoconferencing between the Fire TV Cube and Alexa smart displays late last year, but Zoom opens up even more possibilities for hosting virtual chats or work calls on the biggest screen in your home. This really would’ve come in handy over the last year, but better late than never, I guess — and it should still prove convenient for anyone working a hybrid office / home schedule in the months ahead. The Zoom app for Fire TV is required to get started. So is a webcam, obviously, and the company has some minimum requirements to meet on that front: You will need to connect a webcam that supports... Continue reading…

Image: Marvel Studios Marvel’s Hawkeye spinoff show is officially debuting on Disney Plus on November 24th, the company announced today. The announcement comes with the first official image from the show, that sees Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton iteration of the archer superhero alongside the newly introduced Kate Bishop version of the character, played by Hailee Steinfeld in the upcoming show. #Hawkeye never misses so don’t miss @JeremyRenner and @HaileeSteinfeld in this @EW exclusive first-look of Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye. The Original Series starts streaming Wednesday, November 24 on @DisneyPlus . pic.twitter.com/8DnB18oSIk — Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 29, 2021 Hawkeye joins WandaVision , The Falcon and the Winter Solider , and the recently... Continue reading…

Images: Arc Electricity and water don’t mix — well, actually, they mix really well , which can be problematic for humans. So the thought of an electric boat may seem risky. A new California startup called Arc is going to try to shred that perception, starting with a limited edition 24-foot watersports boat that will cost around $300,000. That’s an incredible amount of money. But Arc — which is coming out of stealth mode today, boasts a handful of SpaceX expats, and is backed by Silicon Valley powerhouse firm Andreessen Horowitz — plans to work its way down from that price point once it’s producing and selling boats, just like Tesla once did for electric passenger cars with the Roadster, followed by the Model S and X, and then the Model 3 and Y. “We... Continue reading…

A new sports add-on from Hulu with Live TV. | Image: Hulu Hulu is adding two big channels for football coverage to its live TV service. The NFL Network will be included in Hulu’s live TV package beginning today at no extra cost, while NFL RedZone will now be offered as part of a new sports add-on. The add-on includes a half-dozen channels, but subscribers will have to pony up for access. The NFL Network joins the more than 75 live TV channels already available as part of Hulu’s live TV package, which starts at $65 per month. The channel includes studio coverage, original series, live NFL season games, as well as NFL preseason games. The NFL says broadening distribution is among its “top priorities” Hulu’s new sports add-on package can expand those channels with NFL RedZone in addition to MAVTV... Continue reading…

The Flex 5 is built for its price range Continue reading…

The next big Fortnite concert is happening very soon — but who will be performing remains a mystery. Developer Epic announced an event called the Rift Tour, which will take place from August 6th to the 8th, with a series of events across different time zones. It’s described as “a musical journey into magical new realities where Fortnite and a record-breaking superstar collide.” Epic previously teased an alien-themed event happening on August 6th with an in-game countdown. Who that superstar is remains to be seen. Recent rumors suggest that Ariana Grande could be the next performer to take Fortnite ’s virtual stage. She would join the likes of Travis Scott and Marshmello , whose Fortnite performances have been some of the most popular... Continue reading…

Airbnb is adding a new tool for hosts that will let them easily test and list their Wi-Fi speeds on listings. The new addition is in recognization of the fact that — particularly with the current remote work and school model — customers are renting Airbnb properties not just for vacations but for working trips that provide a change of scenery. In that vein, knowing that you’ll actually be able to have strong internet when you’re booking is a useful feature. While it’s been possible for hosts to list Wi-Fi speeds or share screenshots of speed tests before, the new tool is integrated directly into Airbnb’s app (using M-Lab’s open-source software ) and allows for Wi-Fi speed to be displayed directly on a listing alongside other information... Continue reading…

Image: BBC The Thirteenth Doctor is set to step away. Today, the BBC announced that Jodie Whittaker, who took over as the first female lead in Doctor Who in 2017 , will end her run on the show in 2022. Showrunner Chris Chibnall will also be leaving. “My heart is so full of love for this show, for the team who make it, for the fans who watch it and for what it has brought to my life,” Whittaker said in a statement . “And I cannot thank Chris enough for entrusting me with his incredible stories. We knew that we wanted to ride this wave side by side, and pass on the baton together. So here we are, weeks away from wrapping on the best job I have ever had. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express what this role has given me. I will carry the Doctor and... Continue reading…

Every summer, hundreds of diamondback terrapins crawl over to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to lay their eggs. In past years, the turtles have been so obstructive, they’ve caused flight delays . To manage situations like these, airports like JFK have entire departments dedicated to keeping wildlife and planes out of each other’s way. While keeping the tarmac clear of turtles allows airports to operate smoothly, the real danger looms in the skies. On average, over 10,000 wildlife strikes are reported each year to the Federal Aviation Administration, most of them birds. As more planes take to the skies the number of bird strikes has trended upward at an alarming rate, threatening to damage planes, or worse, cause... Continue reading…

The PS5 software beta now supports M.2 SSDs. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge Sony has started beta testing the first software update for the PS5 today, and it includes M.2 SSD expandable storage support . The long-awaited feature is available for testers right now and will launch on all PS5 consoles later this year. We’ll need to test a variety of drives with the PS5, but right now Sony requires at least a PCIe Gen4 SSD, with a minimum capacity of 250GB. Sony is also recommending a drive capable of 5,500MB/s, but slower Gen4 drives may still be supported. I’ve tested Corsair’s MP600 (2TB) with the PS5, and it’s very easy to get it all up and running in less than two minutes. Here’s how it all works: To use the expandable storage in the PS5, you’ll need to remove the side panels from the console. Make sure you’ve... Continue reading…

In Southern District of New York federal court on Thursday, Nikola founder Trevor Milton was charged with securities fraud . The charges allege that Milton made a series of materially false claims which portrayed the electric vehicle company Nikola as far closer to releasing a functional product than it actually was, and raising more than $500 million of investment in the process. “Milton sold a version of Nikola not as it was – an early stage company with a novel idea to commercialize yet-to-be proven products and technology – but rather as a trail-blazing company that had already achieved many groundbreaking and game-changing milestones,” the indictment alleges. “Behold, the Nikola One in motion” Specifically, the indictment argues... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber is teaming up with popular language service Rosetta Stone to provide free classes to drivers and couriers, the company announced Thursday. The deal is being extended to drivers and delivery workers in select markets where Uber operates. Rosetta’s digital language learning programs, which cover 24 languages, will be fully integrated into the Uber app used by its workers. And the company is working with Rosetta on developing language skills directly related to their work as ride-share drivers and delivery workers. Drivers have previously been able to take English-language courses as part of Uber Pro , the company’s rewards program for drivers. The new language services are part of a broader effort by the ride-hailing company to... Continue reading…

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge This 8-liter desktop upgrades in a snap Continue reading…

Standout design, noise cancellation, and wireless charging for $99 Continue reading…

Illustration by Ari Liloan for The Verge ‘Documented Dreamers’ have few good options after aging out of dependent visas Continue reading…

The Huawei P50 Pro. | Image: Huawei Huawei has announced its latest flagship phones for the Chinese market, the P50 and P50 Pro . They’re the company’s first major phones to launch with HarmonyOS, the company’s own branded mobile operating system, which pairs with Huawei’s typically well-specced cameras and hardware that includes Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 888 processor in some models. The launch of the P50 series has come a little later in the year than the P40 did in 2020, thanks to US sanctions which have seriously impacted Huawei’s ability to produce new phones and restricted its ability to buy chips and other components from companies using US tech. When he first teased the phones last month , Huawei’s consumer business CEO Richard Yu said that a launch date hadn’t... Continue reading…

Apple MacBook Air with the M1 processor | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s latest MacBook Air with the M1 processor is an excellent, lightweight productivity laptop for school or work. It has excellent performance, stellar battery life, and runs completely silently, thanks to its fanless design. At Best Buy, you can save up to $250 off the price of the 8GB RAM / 256GB storage model , bringing it down to just $750, the lowest price we’ve seen yet. Read our review. To get the best deal, you need to be signed into a My Best Buy account (free) and then toggle the option for the limited time student deal, which knocks another $100 off the discounted $850 price. If you need more storage, the 512GB version is getting the same discount, bringing its price down to $1,000. In 2019, Amazon claimed to have sold... Continue reading…

What exactly the glasses will look like or how they will function is unclear. Facebook’s next hardware launch will be its long-awaited Ray-Ban ‘smart glasses,’ CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed on an earnings call this week. When exactly the glasses will arrive is unclear. We least heard they were launching some time in 2021 , but the pandemic has changed a lot of companies’ plans, and Zuckerberg did not comment on a time frame. “Looking ahead here, the next product release will be the launch of our first smart glasses from Ray-Ban in partnership with EssilorLuxottica,” said the Facebook CEO. “The glasses have their iconic form factor, and they let you do some pretty neat things.” We don’t know what those “neat things” are, though Facebook has previously confirmed that the glasses will not have an integrated display... Continue reading…

Looking back a year later at Intel’s worst summer, and how it’s been fighting its way back since Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony’s PS5 system software beta program is starting to roll out today, and it include access to the long-awaited M.2 SSD slot. The first PS5 beta is available for select users in the US, Canada, Japan, UK, Germany, and France. The beta includes some new UX enhancements and customizations, but the biggest addition is M.2 SSD expansion support. Sony notes you’ll need an M.2 SSD that’s PCIe Gen4 and has read speeds of 5,500MB/s or faster. That’s largely what we were expecting, and it means a variety of Gen4 drives will be supported — including Samsung’s 980 Pro , Western Digital’s SN850s , and many other modern M.2 SSDs. You may need to consider the cooling requirements for using an M.2 SSD in a PS5, though. “Using an M.2 SSD with your PS5... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge “Sugar dating” apps will not be allowed on the Android Play Store from September 1st, Google has announced as part of a series of policy changes for the platform. The change, which was first reported by Android Police , specifically prohibits apps relating to “compensated sexual relationships.” Other changes coming to the platform include a new crackdown on inactive developer accounts, Google says . Traditionally, sugar dating relationships involve older, wealthier individuals dating and showering younger partners with gifts. As Android Police notes, there’s no shortage of apps on the Play Store designed around setting up “sugar daddy” relationships. None of them explicitly say that older men are expected to compensate younger women for... Continue reading…