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Showing posts from May, 2022

iRobot OS is the newest ‘brain’ for your Roomba

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iRobot has launched a new operating system for its household robot cleaners | Image: iRobot The robots are getting smarter. Two years after releasing iRobot Genius Home Intelligence, an AI-powered platform for its robot vacuums and mops , iRobot has announced its new software platform: iRobot OS. This operating system for its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners will take them to the next level, says Colin Angle CEO of iRobot, providing the household bots with a deeper understanding of your home and your habits, so they can clean both harder and smarter. While at launch the iRobot OS is not immediately adding features to existing products, it is laying the foundation for a larger leap. “The idea of moving from the iRobot Genius to iRobot OS is a declaration that the intelligence of the robot is going to be the primary differentiator of... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/V9m6cNx

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go successor leaks via retailer

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Externally, the laptop looks very similar to its predecessor. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft looks set to announce an updated version of its compact Surface Laptop Go, if an early retailer listing from Korea is to be believed. The biggest change with the Surface Laptop Go 2 appears to be its newer 11th-gen Intel CPU (an i5-1135G7), which replaces the 10th-gen model found in the original 2020 laptop . The Go 2 will ship with Windows 11 this time around, and a Google Translate of the retailer page says its webcam will have “improved HD camera performance.” Preorders are set to open on June 2nd, so an official announcement might not be far away. WinFuture previously reported that the laptop could have a starting price of $650. Otherwise, the new laptop appears to be very similar to its predecessor. It still has a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ArMbCnZ

Trucking simulator shelves Russia-themed expansion after Ukraine invasion

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Heart of Russia was the game’s next planned DLC. | Image: SCS Software Euro Truck Simulator 2 has shelved an upcoming Russia-themed expansion pack after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, its developer SCS Software has announced . In a blog post, the Czech Republic-based developer said that it has cancelled the imminent release of the Heart of Russia DLC pack “so that it is not perceived in any way as being in support of or tolerance of the aggression.” Euro Truck Simulator 2 has become a cult hit since its release in 2012, leading its developer to support it with over half a dozen major pieces of DLC in the years since. These packs have expanded the game’s map and added new countries for players to drive through. When it was officially announced in March 2021 , SCS said the Heart of Russia expansion wouldn’t... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bauCBkZ

Epic returns to in-person Fortnite competition with a November event

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Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images Epic Games has announced plans to host an in-person Fortnite competition in November, its first major in-person competitive Fortnite event since the Fortnite World Cup in 2019. The upcoming event, the FNCS Invitational 2022, will take place on November 12th and 13th at the Raleigh Convention Center in North Carolina. “We will be inviting a selection of top FNCS Duos from around the world who will have the opportunity to compete in a single lobby for a share of a $1,000,000 prize pool,” Epic wrote in a blog post bylined by “The Fortnite Team.” However, the company stresses that player health and safety are “the number one priority for holding any in-person event” and warns that it may have the reschedule the event if “public health... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nPvgrSO

Rivian manufacturing executive leaves as part of reorganization

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Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge Rivian’s Charly Mwangi, its executive vice president of manufacturing engineering and a former Tesla exec, is leaving the company as part of a bigger shakeup splitting up parts of the company, according to Bloomberg . “The reorganization calls for splitting the commercial business, which includes delivery vans made for Amazon, from the retail side of the company that produces the R1T plug-in pickup truck and R1S sport-utility vehicle,” Bloomberg reports. The company’s new COO, Frank Klein, will now oversee “many” senior manufacturing and supply chain employees. The Wall Street Journal also reported on the shakeup . The changes are happening as the company is starting to ramp up production of its in-demand R1T and R1S electric vehicles. In... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/YepkZHc

The merging of Comixology and Kindle has created a hell I’d like to escape

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge They do not go together like peanut butter and jelly Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/2q3xSjE

Amazon is ending Cloud Cam service and offering owners a free Blink Mini

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Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Amazon is ending support for its Cloud Cam security camera and offering owners a free Blink Mini to replace it. MacRumors noted the change late last week, and The Verge obtained a copy of an email sent to customers announcing the change. Cloud Cam owners will be able to use their cameras and download video until December 2nd of this year, after which all recordings will be deleted and the hardware will no longer function. Customers with the Cloud Cam Key Edition will also lose the ability to connect to smart locks, although they can get a free fourth-generation Echo to replace the functionality. “As the number of Alexa smart home devices continues to grow, we are focusing efforts on Ring, Blink, and other technologies that make your home... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/n7irYUt

This iPad Mini 6 case offers MagSafe-like charging capability

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The Pitaka MagEZ Case Pro comes with a magnetic charging puck that attaches to the back. | Image: Pitaka If you’ve wanted MagSafe-style convenient charging on an iPad Mini, Pitaka’s latest case is here for you. The new $79 MagEZ Case Pro for the sixth-generation iPad Mini (aka the iPad Mini 6) has magnetic points on the back that pass power through the iPad’s USB-C port when used with the included pad. Or you can use it with the $129 MagEZ Charging Stand , which elevates the tablet and provides a second Qi charging spot in its base for a phone or headphones. There are some downsides to this approach. Pitaka’s case doesn’t make use of the magnets built into the back of the iPad Mini, and it blocks the USB-C port from access, leaving you with the magnetic pad as the only way to charge the device. Forget about transferring any data over a wired... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/TEdJjiR

Pixel Tablet could include support for third-party styluses

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An early image of Google’s upcoming tablet, released earlier this month. | Image: Google Google’s upcoming Pixel Tablet might support the cross-manufacturer USI (Universal Stylus Initiative) standard, allowing it to be used with a range of third party styluses, if a recently-discovered entry in the USI’s list of certified products is to be believed. The entry, which we spotted via NuGiz , lists a device from Google with the product name “Tangor” and the model number “Tablet,” which are presumably placeholder names for the Android-powered tablet Google announced earlier this month . USI is an industry-wide stylus standard that Google joined in 2018 . It’s already supported across a range of Chromebooks, allowing them to be used with a variety of styluses from different manufacturers. But while there are plenty of proprietary... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/eTp9tCs

Apple’s RealityOS for rumored headset appears in trademark application

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge RealityOS — the name Apple is reportedly using for the operating system running on its rumored virtual and augmented reality headset — has appeared in a trademark filing spotted by Parker Ortolani . Bloomberg News was first to report the “reality operating system” branding back in 2017, and references to the name have appeared in Apple’s software . The trademark application hasn’t officially been filed by Apple, but it’s common practice for large companies to apply for trademarks under one-off company names — like Realityo Systems LLC, in this case — in the state of Delaware for the sole purpose of maintaining anonymity. The trademark application is the latest evidence that Apple is on the cusp of announcing its long-rumored headset. It... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZQjPsbH

For $500, you can buy the Third Sister’s 6.5-foot double-bladed lightsaber

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It measures 6.5 feet in length with both blades attached. | Image: Hasbro Hasbro has designed a lifelike lightsaber just in time for the premiere of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series , one that might be the toymaker’s most ambitious — and expensive — replica yet. The Black Series Reva Force FX Elite Lightsaber costs $499 and measures a total of 6.5 feet long with both blades attached. It’s modeled after the lightsaber wielded by the Third Sister, also known as Reva, a cold and callous Inquisitor set on hunting down Obi-Wan. Just like the iconic lightsabers we’ve seen held by Inquisitors in past Star Wars series, you can take off one of the blades, as well as remove half of the circle in the center of the lightsaber. There are a number of cool lighting and sound effects that you can activate too, and they work... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/DLIl6RU

Apple can’t dismiss Cydia’s amended antitrust lawsuit, judge says

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple’s attempt to dismiss an amended antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of Cydia, an app store for jailbroken iPhones, has failed (via Reuters ). California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Apple’s motion to dismiss the case on Thursday and is giving the company 21 days to respond to Cydia’s refiled complaint. Cydia developer Jay Freeman (who also goes by the username Saurik), first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020 . The complaint alleges Apple “has wrongfully acquired and maintained monopoly power” in iOS app distribution and payments, ultimately “depriving” third-party app stores of “the ability to compete with the App Store.” Cydia emerged before the Apple App Store even existed, and allowed users to find and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/sdyprUB

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max could finally get always-on display

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple may finally bring always-on display to the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. According to a report from Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman , Apple could introduce the feature with iOS 16, allowing the iPhone to display a limited amount of information even when it’s locked. Gurman says the iPhone’s version of always-on mode could work similarly to the way it does with the Apple Watch Series 5 and up — the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will drop the lock screen’s frame rate with always-on mode enabled, letting them conserve energy while the display remains powered on. It’s unclear if the new iPhone will use the same low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display Apple uses in newer Watch models. These low-powered screens play a huge part in... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/mBkLYAQ

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II is coming to Switch

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Image: Aspyr Media Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ( KOTOR ) II: The Sith Lords is heading to the Nintendo Switch on June 8th, as announced at this year's Star Wars Celebration event. The sequel to the classic KOTOR RPG is supposed to feature some performance enhancements and resolution upgrades, as well as a Restored Content DLC set to arrive post-launch. Image: Aspyr Media As you might’ve guessed, the Restored Content DLC comes with the content that Obsidian Entertainment and Aspyr Media, the game’s developers, left out during their rush to launch the game in 2004. There’s already a fanmade mod for KOTOR II on Steam that restores some of this lost content, but it’s unclear how similar the official DLC will be when it comes out. Y... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/kEWeoVI

Twitter Circle is starting to roll out to more users

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter started testing Circle earlier this month with a limited group, and now it looks like it’s starting to roll out to more users (via Android Police ). The feature works a lot like Instagram’s Close Friends , as it allows users to send out tweets to a specific group of people rather than all of Twitter. To check if you have access to Twitter Circle, update your Twitter app or head to Twitter in a web browser. When you start composing a tweet, you’ll see a dropdown menu at the top that reads Everyone . From here, you can choose Twitter Circle to limit your tweet to a select audience, or you can hit Edit to add or remove people from your Circle. Twitter won’t notify users if you add or remove them. Choose “Twitter... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/rCXHP1K

The new Ayn Loki handheld runs Windows and starts at $299

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The Ayn Loki inherits much of its design from the Ayn Odin. | Image: Ayn Ayn, the maker of the Odin Android handheld , is releasing a lineup of what it calls the “most affordable” portable Windows gaming consoles yet (via Liliputing ). The cheapest of the bunch starts at just $299 — $100 less than the 64GB Steam Deck. Ayn announced the news in a YouTube video and a series of posts on Instagram, giving us a look at what we can expect for looks, tech specs, and pricing. While the entry-level $299 Loki Mini comes with 64GB of storage and an Intel Alder Lake U chip, the standard Loki handheld has an AMD Ryzen 5 6600U chip with three different storage options: 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB, each costing $499, $599, and $699, respectively. The $799 Loki Max features an upgraded AMD Ryzen 7 6800U chip and 512GB of storage. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/A8pJfLb

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to Fallen Order

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During day two of the weekend-long Star Wars Celebration event, we got a first look at the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order , called Jedi: Survivor . It’s expected to launch in 2023 for the PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and PC. Cal Kestis, who happens to be the galaxy’s least interesting Jedi (especially when Cere Junda is right there ), is back, kicking space fascist ass with the help of his extremely cute droid helper BD-1. The Jedi: Fallen Order series follows Cal as he works to rebuild the Jedi after the infamous Order 66. The sequel takes place five years after the original game and is once again described as a “third person, narrative-driven action-adventure game.” Director Stig Asmussen says the sequel will include some next-gen features as... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Rr5VTm4

Meta rewrites privacy policy but says it won’t collect data in ‘new ways’

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Meta’s new Privacy Policy menu | Image: Meta As it occasionally does, the company formerly known as Facebook has produced a new revision of its Terms of Service and updated its privacy policy. The old Facebook Data Policy is now Meta’s Privacy Policy , rewritten “to make it easier to understand and to reflect the latest products we offer.” With this revision, Meta “is not collecting, using or sharing your data in new ways based on this policy update and we still do not sell your information,” according to the company. Instead, this update tweaks the language and adds examples to help people understand what each segment is about. “the status quo is not good for privacy” After reading through the new policy and comparing it to the old one, this appears to hold up, for better or... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/YdjX4u6

Diablo Immortal will launch with native voice chat transcription and speech-to-text

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Blizzard Diablo Immortal is hell, literally, but playing it doesn’t have to be. Ahead of the game’s June 2nd release date , the Diablo team at Blizzard talked about some of the accessibility features they’ve built into Diablo Immortal to make hell that works for everyone. Controller support was something really important to bring to Diablo Immortal. “You will be able to play Diablo Immortal with controllers on both mobile devices and on PC,” Blizzard wrote in its accessibility blog . “Many controls — including skills, accessing chat, and more — can be remapped from the controller tab of the settings menu.” In addition to controller support, Blizzard is also sending Diablo Immortal reviewers a Razer Kishi controller that turns your phone into a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/sYwi6zb

Nintendo’s N64 emulation woes continue with Kirby bug, but a fix is coming

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The game launched on Nintendo Switch Online last week . | Image: Nintendo Nintendo has promised to fix an annoying bug that’s cropped up in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , a Nintendo 64 game that’s available via Nintendo’s Online Expansion Pack subscription. According to NintendoLife , the bug makes it so players can’t move if they’re hit by certain enemies or items in the game’s underwater levels. The only way to fix it, according to people who say they’ve experienced the bug , is to exit the level. The issue seems to be caused by Nintendo’s emulator, as players report that they don’t remember it happening in the original version of the game or in other ports (it was available through the Virtual Console on the Wii and Wii U). In a tweet on Friday , the company said that a patch to fix the issue “will be released... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Vv4drUI

FromSoftware says it’s ‘in the process’ of restoring Dark Souls’ online servers

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Praise the servers. | Image: FromSoftware The servers for the Dark Souls series have been offline for PC players for months due to a remote code execution (RCE) exploit that could let hackers take over your computer, but developer FromSoftware is in the process of restoring the servers, according to a PC Gamer article published Friday . “We are currently in the process of restoring the online servers for the Dark Souls series on PC,” FromSoftware said to PC Gamer in an email. “We plan to restore online service for each game progressively, bringing back servers for Dark Souls 3 once we complete the necessary work to correct the problem. We will provide additional updates as soon as the restoration schedule is finalized. We want to thank all our players for your patience and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/IR9nKk7

Netflix adds content warning to Stranger Things season 4 premiere after Texas school shooting

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Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven. | Netflix Due to the general but chilling similarities the opening scenes of Stranger Things 4 bear to the recent mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas , Netflix has issued a content warning. In addition to a recap of Stranger Things ’ previous chapters , the new season starts with a short message explaining that while production on Stranger Things 4 wrapped in 2021 , viewers may be disturbed by the parallels between scenes from the first episode and the real world Texas school shooting that left two teachers and 19 school children dead . In the days leading up to Stranger Things ’ season 4 premiere, Netflix had previously uploaded the scenes in question to YouTube as a teaser, but the video has since been pulled down. Netflix’s... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/hMvaTFL

Samsung’s reportedly cutting its phone production for 2022

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The scale-back seems significant. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung is reportedly scaling back the number of phones it’s planning on producing in 2022, from 310 million to 280 million, according to SamMobile , which cites a report from Korean outlet Maeil Business News . In absolute terms, that’s still quite a lot of phones, but it’s a relatively sharp decrease from the company’s original goal (and from the reported number of phones it and its partners produced last year). It seems that there may be a trend of manufacturers preparing for the economy to get worse before it gets better. Reportedly, the lowered production targets will affect phones across its lineup, from low-end models to flagships. In a way, cutting the production of its less expensive phones sounds counter-intuitive — wouldn’t more... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/W5B4vU7

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is the latest live-action series coming to Disney Plus

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The Star Wars universe on Disney Plus continues to expand with the official reveal of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew , which stars Jude Law and is coming to the streaming service in 2023. Announced during Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, the series is a coming-of-age tale set in the sci-fi universe. In addition to Law, it will also star “kids,” though we don’t know who they will be just yet. It’s led by director Jon Watts and writer Chris Ford, who previously collaborated on Spider-Man: Homecoming, and produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. The series was teased in a Vanity Fair article last week. During today’s event, Filoni said that the show is “as much for kids as The Clone Wars. ” Earlier in the event, Lucasfilm released the first... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/0WKbaX2

The Mandalorian season 3 debuts February 2023

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Excited to see more Grogu? | Image: Lucasfilm Disney announced at Star Wars Celebration that The Mandalorian ’s third season will debut in February 2023 on Disney Plus . The third season of The Mandalorian has been a long time coming — season two debuted all the way back in October 2020. Thankfully, we’ve seen Mando and Grogu a bit more recently than that, as they starred in some of the later episodes of The Book of Boba Fett , but it still feels like it’s been quite a while since the last dedicated season of The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian and Grogu continue their journey in Season 3 of #TheMandalorian , streaming February 2023 only on @DisneyPlus . pic.twitter.com/CHqUL1gec7 — The Mandalorian (@themandalorian) May 26, 2022 At Star Wars Celebration, executive producer Jon Favreau... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/NHXIDWe

Microsoft confirms work on ‘Keystone’ Xbox game streaming dongle

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft’s long-in-the-works xCloud streaming device is going through some changes, as reported by Windows Central . The company first announced the dedicated streaming dongle in June 2021 , but in a statement given to Windows Central , the company said it has pivoted from the “current iteration” of the device, which it says is codenamed Keystone. Here is Microsoft’s full statement shared with Windows Central : Our vision for Xbox Cloud Gaming is unwavering, our goal is to enable people to play the games they want, on the devices they want, anywhere they want. As announced last year, we’ve been working on a game-streaming device, codename Keystone, that could be connected to any TV or monitor without the need for a console. As part of any... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/dePDCWS

Watch the first trailer for Andor, coming to Disney Plus in August

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Art from Star Wars: Andor shared by Disney in a trailer. | Image: Disney Disney kicked off its Star Wars Celebration event with the first look at Andor . The upcoming Disney Plus series stars Diego Luna, who is reprising his role as Cassian Andor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The show will hit the streaming platform on August 31st. Details about the show have been relatively light, though Disney’s website describes the show as a “tense nail-biting spy thriller.” At today’s panel, it was confirmed the season will be 12 episodes long — much longer than a typical Star Wars show — and will take place five years before the events of Rogue One . “You’re not going to recognize Cassian Andor in the beginning,” Luna said during the panel. Here’s the official description: The Andor series will explore a new... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/jF2IyC8

Apple’s reportedly flat iPhone production target for 2022 isn’t a great sign

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Apple’s reportedly predicting flat demand for the iPhone 13 and 14. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple, one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, reportedly doesn’t think it’ll sell any more iPhones this year than it did last year, despite rumors that the iPhone 14 will come with some major improvements ( via MacRumors ). While it’s not necessarily a canary in the coal mine (or a Waffle House being closed ) that the world will keep getting worse, Apple predicting that sales of its most popular product won’t grow could be a sign that the company’s relatively pessimistic about the state of things in the near future. According to Bloomberg , the company is asking its suppliers to make around 220 million iPhones, which is similar to how many it requested in 2021. This runs contrary to some analysts’ predictions, which forecasted that... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/zDqTjrJ

Twitter shareholder sues Elon Musk for tanking the company’s stock

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Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images A new lawsuit on behalf of Twitter shareholders was filed against Elon Musk in federal district court in San Francisco on Wednesday night, alleging that the Tesla CEO has actively manipulated the company’s stock for personal gain. The complaint focuses on Musk’s conduct since signing the purchase agreement with Twitter’s board on April 25th, particularly his recent statement that the deal “cannot move forward” without more information about automated accounts on the platform. After signing the agreement, the complaint alleges, “Musk proceeded to make statements, send tweets, and engage in conduct designed to create doubt about the deal and drive Twitter’s stock down substantially in order to create leverage that Musk hoped to use to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/G3BLAK8

Monarch butterflies saw a resurgence in Mexico

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Photo by Sylvain CORDIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Monarch butterflies might be tougher than we give them credit for. The orange beauties made a surprising comeback in Mexico this winter, environmental organizations and Mexico’s commission for natural protected areas announced this week. To avoid frigid temperatures further north, the butterflies flutter thousands of miles south from Canada and the US to spend the winter months in Mexico. This December, authorities there recorded a 35 percent rise in the monarch butterfly’s presence in Mexican forests. They face serious threats It’s a show of resilience for a species whose numbers have dwindled to worrying lows in the region over the past decade. They face serious threats from habitat destruction and climate change , so much so that the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/54FwKOX

Report: workers delivering Amazon’s packages are injured at a ‘shocking rate’

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Operators blame intense quotas and pressure. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Some workers delivering packages for Amazon were more than twice as likely to be injured on the job compared to non-Amazon delivery workers, according to a report from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) advocacy group ( via CNBC ). The union coalition compiled data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by Amazon and its contractors and discovered that an estimated 18.3 percent of Amazon’s subcontracted delivery workers were injured seriously enough to be reported. As the report notes, Amazon deliveries aren’t made entirely by workers that the company directly employs. The SOC says that a large portion of packages are delivered by people working for a Delivery Service Partner (DSP), or a company that... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/8R7u5E1

Google’s folding phone has reportedly been delayed again

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Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Although the long-rumored Pixel Watch has finally arrived , there’s still no sign of Google’s mysterious folding phone — and we likely won’t see it for another year. According to reports from Korean industry site The Elec and supply chain analyst Ross Young ( via Android Central ), the release of Google’s rumored folding phone has been delayed until next spring. Google was originally expected to reveal the device in 2021 , but that prediction was pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2022. This most recent delay could explain why we didn’t see the device at Google I/O earlier this month alongside the brief tease of a future Pixel tablet . Hearing from multiple sources in their supply chain that the Google foldable launch was delayed till... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/lS16N0Y

LG turned its 48-inch OLED TV into a huge 4K gaming monitor

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Late last year, I plopped a giant 48-inch OLED television on my desk in search of the one screen to rule them all. It was fantastic, with amazing color, inky blacks, G-Sync, and FreeSync Premium on a 120Hz panel — but not exactly suited to be the perfect PC screen. Now, LG is tailoring its television a bit more for desk use with the new LG UltraGear 48GQ900 , which adds some of the features I wished I had in that review. Chief among them: the stand. While the LG C1 48 and LG CX 48 televisions featured a big wide base that discourages any attempt at desktop cable management and blocks the rest of your desk from view, the new UltraGear monitor has a more traditional V-shaped foot that lifts the whole screen off the table. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xZJHdQb

Big Tech is pouring millions into the wrong climate solution at Davos

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Børge Brende, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Geraldine Matchett, Elizabeth Wathuti, and Marc Benioff attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24th, 2022. | Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Alphabet, Microsoft, and Salesforce today pledged $500 million to new climate tech that’s supposed to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to keep it from heating up the planet. It’s the latest move by Big Tech to propel the emerging technology forward while painting themselves as global leaders when it comes to taking action on climate change. Regardless, these companies have a lot of work left to do to deal with their own emissions. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) isn’t the solution for Big Tech’s own pollution. To be sure, the climate crisis has gotten so bad that the United Nations’ leading climate experts acknowledge that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels won’t be enough anymore. We’ll also have to find ways t

Another live-action Speed Racer is coming to Apple TV Plus with J.J. Abrams behind the wheel

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The Mach 6 as it appears in Warner Bros. live-action Speed Racer film. | Image: Warner Bros. Though it’s only been 14 years since the last live-action adaptation of Speed Racer from a Western production studio, Apple and J. J. Abrams are stepping up to the plate to make another. Variety reports that Apple and Warner Bros. Television Studios are teaming up to produce a new Speed Racer with J. J. Abrams executive producing and Ron Fitzgerald ( Westworld ) and Hiram Martinez ( Snowfall ) attached to co-showrun. Like the 2008 film, the ‘60s anime series, and the original Mach Go Go Go manga they’re all based on, the new Apple TV Plus series will tell the story of Speed, a young race car driver living in the shadow of his (presumably) long-lost brother. While the new Speed Racer has reportedly been in development for some time, there are... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/0oG3ipw

How to remap your Chromebook’s keyboard

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Chromebooks are pretty different from traditional laptops in a lot of ways — and not just because of their software. The most obvious physical difference? Chromebooks feature keyboards with a variety of Chrome OS-specific functions, which means they don’t have standard keys like F1 or even Caps Lock. Depending on your style of working, that could be a welcome change or a massive pain. If you aren’t thrilled with that arrangement, though, don’t despair. You can actually remap a fair number of your Chromebook’s keys and dramatically change how you use your device. To get started, simply head into the Keyboard section of your Chromebook’s settings: Click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen. Tap the gear-shaped icon in the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/GTp7mUy

Apple’s new App Store rule for easier account and data deletion hits June 30th

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge During its WWDC 2021 event, Apple laid down a slew of policy changes for the App Store, adjusting the rules for everything from bounty hunting to whether or not Roblox is a game. Now, with the WWDC 2022 event ready to start on June 6th , Apple is reminding developers that it’s ready to flip the switch on some policy updates that were previously delayed. Two App Store rule changes that Apple is confirming will take effect as of June 30th: a requirement that apps offering paid online group services use its in-app payment system, and a requirement mandating that developers offer easy account deletions (including stored personal data) within any app that allows users to create an account. The policy about online group services (like classes... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/D7shEgN

Here are the best Amazon Echo deals right now

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The Echo Show 5 (left), Echo Show 8 (middle), and the Echo Show (right). | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon’s current Echo lineup offers a broad selection of smart speakers and displays that can fit just about anywhere in your home. Whether you want to place a voice assistant in your living room, replace the bulletin board in your office, or pick up a touchscreen-enabled device to showcase recipes in the kitchen, there's an Echo device for just about every occasion and use case. Regardless of why you might want one, there’s always a way to save on an Echo device, from the last-gen Dot to Amazon’s latest Echo Show 10. Even when they’re selling at full price, for instance, Amazon offers a 25 percent discount when you trade in select devices, meaning there are still other ways to save money when none of the models are on sale. Below,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/8QgxpEk

Judge rules Tesla can’t hide behind arbitration in sexual harassment case

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A lawsuit that accuses Tesla of fostering a workplace with “rampant” sexual harassment will continue in court after a California judge denied the company’s motion for arbitration, as first reported by Bloomberg . Although the female worker who brought up the case signed an arbitration agreement at Tesla, terminating her rights to sue, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kaus still moved forward with the decision on Monday. Jessica Barraza filed the lawsuit last year , claiming she was subject to catcalling, lewd comments, and inappropriate touching while working as a production associate at Tesla’s Fremont, California factory. At least seven more female workers have since come forward with sexual harassment complaints , with some a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Uf1zdOr

Democrats say Google must curb location tracking before Roe repeal

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A group of more than 40 Democratic members of Congress has asked Google to stop collecting and retaining “unnecessary” location data out of fear that it could be used to identify and prosecute people who have obtained abortions. The request was made in a letter sent to Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday by members of the House and Senate, led by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and including well-known progressive representatives such as Ayanna Pressley, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “We believe that abortion is health care,” the letter states. “We will fight tooth and nail to ensure that it remains recognized as a fundamental right, and that all people in the United States have control over their own bodies.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/RtAOas0

Pixel 6 owners aren’t thrilled with Google’s overpriced, yellowing cases

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This is supposed to be pink . | Image: u/A_Giant_Baguette on Reddit Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro users aren’t impressed with Google’s $30 first-party cases. Looking at Reddit and reviews on Amazon, there are dozens of people complaining about the transparent plastic showing extreme yellowing , warping , or just plain not fitting the phone from the factory . Some users have posted some gnarly-looking pictures of their cases, saying that they degraded in anywhere from several months to just two or three weeks. An editor here at The Verge says that their case has also started to look “a bit dingy.” While there are plenty of positive reviews for the cases, it’s hard to ignore the number of complaints. It also seems unlikely that this is just from a bad batch of cases. There’s a Reddit thread complaining about the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/RpNPFlX

The PS5 is available directly from Sony at 4PM ET and you can start queueing now

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Sony has had frequent restocks of its flagship console lately. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge The latest restock of hard-to-get PlayStation 5 consoles has arrived. Sony has opened a public queue that you can join now for a chance to buy a $499 PlayStation 5 that has a disc drive. We also expect Sony may have the $399 PS5 Digital Edition without a disc drive on offer, as well as your choice of accessories and games. Sony has routinely offered invite-only opportunities to buy a PS5, but recently it’s also run public ones, allowing anyone with a PSN account to get a crack at purchasing a console. Be sure to jump in line right away with your PlayStation Network account login info, as you’ll need to sign in if you make it through to checkout. While Sony’s site often gives an estimated wait time of one hour or more, the key is to be... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gmC3RNM

Walmart is expanding its drone deliveries to reach 4 million households

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DroneUp can deliver packages within a mile-and-a-half radius of a Walmart. | Image: Walmart Walmart announced on Tuesday that it’s planning on expanding the number of stores that offer drone-delivered packages; by the end of the year, it hopes to fly deliveries from 34 sites across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. The company says the expansion will give up to 4 million households access to the service, which is a significant increase. When the company launched the program in November 2021 , it was only available in a single town in Arkansas. Walmart says that customers who live near drone-capable stores will be able to order items weighing less than 10 pounds in total between 8AM and 8PM. The deliveries, which cost $3.99, are done via a drone operated by a company called DroneUp, which has a partnership... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/TGrL3yK

LG’s brilliant C1 OLED just hit its lowest price ever on Amazon

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The LG C1 pairs 4K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate with FreeSync and G-Sync for an amazing gaming experience. | Image: LG Our inaugural deals post this week is full of amazing deals, many of which are currently matching their best prices to date. Both the 65-inch and 77-inch models of LG’s C1 OLED are on sale for their lowest prices ever at Amazon, for instance, with the 65-inch panel going for $1,596.99 instead of $2,499.99 . Other sizes are available for a discount as well, but you’ll want to direct your attention to either the 65- or 77-inch models for the best value. While we’ve never reviewed the C1 , several staff members own the 2021 model and can’t seem to shut up about it — not just because it offers excellent visual fidelity but also because of its list of excellent, gamer-centric features. In addition to 4K resolution and support for Dolby Vision —... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/7HEZpCY

Activision Blizzard employees win their union vote

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Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Game Workers Alliance , the union of quality assurance workers at Activision subsidiary studio Raven Software , has won their union vote. The votes were tallied today and the union passed with 19 out of 22 votes with two challenged ballots. The election makes the Game Workers Alliance (GWA) the first union for Activision Blizzard and only the second formal union in US video game industry . Happy union day! We won! pic.twitter.com/nzJ4A3J3RB — Game Workers Alliance #WeAreGWA (@WeAreGWA) May 23, 2022 The vote is the culmination of months of organizing and a seeming concerted effort of union-busting on behalf of Activision Blizzard . In December, after 12 QA employees were informed they would be laid off in January, QA workers staged... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/U8TkSIv

AT&T gives mobile subscribers Control

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AT&T subscribers can try a cloud-streamed version of Control Ultimate Edition . | Image: AT&T AT&T customers can now play a cloud-streamed version of Control Ultimate Edition in their browser that uses the white-label version of Google’s Stadia technology. Customers on an AT&T postpaid plan can check out the game by visiting this link on a computer or mobile device and entering their phone number and billing zip code to jump in. Control is the second experience AT&T offers using Stadia’s tech, which Google offers under the brand Immersive Stream for Games . The first was a demo of Batman: Arkham Knight , which launched for AT&T subscribers last year , though that works only on a computer. But AT&T’s Control offering isn’t a demo — it’s the full game, the company confirmed to The Verge . And since it’s the Ultimate Edition , that means... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/r4ACLmz

How to use the helpful Speak to Chat feature on Sony headphones and earbuds

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Speak to Chat works with many of Sony’s high-end headphones and earbuds. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Sony’s best headphones and earbuds come with a wide mix of software features. Aside from helpful tricks like adaptive sound control and EQ customization, a more recent addition has been Speak to Chat. It first debuted with the W-1000XM4 in 2020 and has since come to newer Sony products as well. Since it’s turned off by default, there’s a good chance you haven’t yet tried Speak to Chat. But it’s a very convenient feature that can help you communicate with others without having to fully disconnect from your music. What is Speak to Chat? Speak to Chat is a software feature that’s designed to help you talk to people and have brief interactions without worrying about finding and pressing buttons to activate ambient / transparency sound mode.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/HM5rjkf

Corsair’s first-ever gaming laptop has a touch bar

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Corsair, after having been a leader in the desktop space for decades, is releasing its first-ever gaming laptop. The new Voyager a1600 is an AMD powerhouse, equipped with both Ryzen 6000-series processors and AMD Radeon RX 6000 series. The device is Corsair’s first venture into mobile hardware after acquiring the enthusiast PC builder Origin in 2019. We don’t know with complete certainty what this device will look like yet since the pictures Corsair has provided us with are only renders, and we only got a brief peek during AMD’s Computex keynote . Still, take a look and one feature will likely jump out at you: there’s a touch bar. Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge A closer look at an actual Corsair Voyager. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/uzI7YrQ

AMD believes it can build a better cheap laptop with 10 hours of battery

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Just a few years ago, you could barely find a laptop with an AMD chip. Then, they started sprouting up in a few of the best notebooks you could buy. Now, AMD says its chips will feature in 200 different laptop models in 2022 — and with the just revealed “Mendocino,” announced at Computex 2022 , it’s trying to “redefine the everyday laptop” as a budget machine with decent battery life. We’ve no idea whether it’ll deliver on that notion, but what it’s promising sounds like a good start: a new series of Ryzen laptop chips that combine four last-gen Zen 2 CPU cores with the latest RDNA 2 graphics on TSMC’s 6nm process to deliver over 10 hours of battery life on a charge — all for a price between $399 and $699. That includes both Windows... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/NXHpIyK

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 CPUs will break the 5GHz barrier — and require a new motherboard

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Yes, the lid actually looks like that. | Image: AMD This fall, AMD is planning a clean break with the past, and it thinks your need for speed might convince you to do the same. Today at Computex 2022 , the company revealed the key facets of its next-generation Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs, their Zen 4 architecture, and — for the first time in five years — a brand-new kind of motherboard you’ll need to buy. While even some of the company’s oldest AM4 motherboards can be updated to support its latest Ryzen 5000-series desktop CPUs, the upcoming Ryzen 7000 requires AM5. As the company told us in January , the Ryzen 7000 are the first PC chips based on a 5nm process, and the AM5 motherboard platform is designed to support DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 out of the box. AM5 = 5nm + DDR5 + PCIe 5.0 + 5GHz But... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gTYb94M