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WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 13, 2022: (L-R) U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), stand onstage after the conclusion of an event celebrating the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. | Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images As money starts to roll out for the US’s landmark clean energy and climate bill, a big chunk of the benefits will now be officially set aside for disadvantaged communities. Programs totaling $118 billion in federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act will now have to ensure that at least 40 percent of the benefits they produce flow into disadvantaged communities in the US. The Biden administration updated its list today of federal programs included within its Justice40 Initiative, a document it shared first with The Verge . President Joe Biden launched the Justice40 program...

This is an official press screenshot from TinyLetter. Throwback! | Image: TinyLetter Mailchimp is shutting TinyLetter, a service that I loved that let individuals easily write and publish simple but nice-looking email newsletters. The service will be discontinued on February 29th, 2024, according to a message I see when logged into my TinyLetter account. A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a screenshot of what looks to be a message from Mailchimp that provides some additional context about the shutdown. Since Mailchimp acquired TinyLetter in 2011 , “our business priorities have evolved, and we’ve been laser focused on building tools to serve marketers and help small businesses grow,” according to the message . “The TinyLetter community’s needs have changed too, with some customers moving to Mailchimp to scale and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/KavGZ6s

Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge Google Drive users on Android have had the ability to scan documents and save them as PDFs for a while now. However, recently Google has upgraded that feature for Android users, adding automatic captures, among other upgrades, and is also rolling out the feature for iOS users . As soon as it is available on my iPhone, I will add directions for the iOS version. Meanwhile, here’s how you can scan to a PDF using Google Drive. This example was done on a Google Pixel 6 running Android 14. In your Google Drive app, tap the + New button and select Scan . You can also just tap the camera button just above it. Hover your phone above the document you want to scan. The app will normally go to Auto capture , in which case it will almost immediately... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/qPSxR5V

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon has shared some new AI-focused offerings at its annual AWS conference. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/sWt16XU

Illustration: The Verge If you ever wanted to make your website sound a little more silly, now’s your chance. Google Registry just released a new top-level domain that lets you slap a big ol’ .meme at the end of your website. The new .meme domains are available to register right now as part of an early access period for an “additional one-time fee.” If you don’t want to pay extra, you can wait until they become publicly available on December 5th at 4PM UTC (12PM ET) to pay just the base annual price. There are already a handful of sites that are embracing the .meme domain, some of which are dedicated to memes from the days of yore, including grumpycat.meme , nyancat.meme , and keyboardcat.meme . The meme tracker knowyour.meme even adopted the new domain. However,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Uk9pnA2

Image: The Verge Sports Illustrated published articles that were attributed to fake AI-generated authors, according to reporting by Futurism . The authors include “ Drew Ortiz ,” who’s “spent much of his life outdoors,” and “ Sora Tanaka ,” who is “a fitness guru, and loves to try different foods and drinks.” Futurism found the associated author headshots for sale on an AI-generated image website, and someone involved in the creation of the content told the outlet that there are “a lot” of similar fake writers. Sports Illustrated hasn’t confirmed whether the content is AI-generated — but the writing is clunky and strange, like someone is mimicking what a product reviewer might write. “Drew Ortiz” grew up in a farmhouse. His face is also for... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/jQnyAHP

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge European Union regulators have sent a statement of objections to Amazon about the company’s proposed $1.7 billion acquisition of Roomba maker iRobot. In a press release , the European Commission says that it “has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners.” Amazon announced in August 2022 that it planned to acquire iRobot . The proposed acquisition has since come under regulatory scrutiny, with the European Commission revealing an investigation in July 2023 . British regulators looked at the deal but cleared it in June . The Federal Trade Commission requested information about the deal from Amazon and iRobot in September 2022. The European... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6BeLoZv

Photo by JOHAN NILSSON/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images Tesla sued Sweden’s postal agency after mail workers in the country refused to deliver license plates in solidarity with striking service autoworkers . As CNBC reports , the company calls postal workers’ refusal to deliver license plates a “discriminatory attack” and says that the Swedish government has a “constitutional obligation” to get plates to vehicle owners. About 130 workers at seven Tesla repair shops in Sweden have walked out in the past month as ordered by their labor union, IF Metall, the largest union for manufacturer workers in the country. Tesla has refused to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the striking workers. Other unions have thrown in their support, including dock workers who won’t take Tesla vehicles... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/KHqui6d

Image: OnePlus OnePlus has unveiled official images of its upcoming OnePlus 12 flagship smartphone on Weibo ahead of its December 5th launch event in China, revealing the handset will be available in three colors: white, black, and green. The design of the device appears visually similar to its predecessor, the OnePlus 11 , though the Alert Slider — a fan-favorite feature that allows users to easily switch between mute, vibrate, and ringer sound profiles — is now located on the left-hand side of the phone instead of the right. According to OnePlus, the relocation was made to accommodate a new integrated antenna that’s designed to boost signal performance and reduce latency for game streaming. “Based on internal testing, it has been determined that the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/JQmXWnG

The second-generation Apple Pencil is an excellent stylus compatible with the latest iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Pro models. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Let’s face it: most early Cyber Monday deals tend to just be rebranded Black Friday deals, but every now and then the shopping event surprises us with a new one entirely. Today’s deal on the second-generation Apple Pencil is one of those deals. Right now, the second-gen Apple Pencil has dropped to a new all-time low of $79.99 ($49 off) at Amazon and at Walmart , though after you sign into your Walmart account. If you own one of Apple’s latest iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Mini models, this is an excellent stylus for drawing and taking notes. The pressure-sensitive Pencil recharges by magnetically attaching to the side of tablets, which is a convenient feature its predecessor lacked. It also supports tap gestures and the hover feature on M... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/mJlis...

iRobot’s flagship robot vacuum and mop the j9 Combo Plus is $400 off for Cyber Monday. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge With a new owner looming , iRobot is already getting into the Amazon discounting game by dropping the prices on its brand-new vacuums this Cyber Monday. On Friday, it started with its new budget and midrange lines , the Roomba Combo i5 Plus and Combo j5 Plus, and on Sunday, iRobot slashed $400 off its new top-of-the-line models , the j9 Plus and Combo j9 Plus. Image: iRobot The Roomba j9 Plus and mopping version the Combo j9 Plus are $400 off for Cyber Monday. The Roomba j9 Plus is the company’s flagship robot vacuum and is on sale for $599, down from $899 at Amazon . It comes with a self-empty dock and all the smarts of the Roomba j7 , including AI-powered obstacle avoidance to steer clear of household clutter... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/SJopWau

Apple’s AirTag, our favorite Bluetooth tracker for iPhone owners, is available starting at just $23.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge It’s the time of year again when utter chaos descends upon airports nationwide. That means the chances of losing your luggage are higher than usual, so it’s worth preparing for the commotion if you’re planning to travel. Right now, you can buy a single AirTag for just $23.99 ($5 off) at Amazon and Walmart , which is a rare discount that’s just $1 shy of the tracker’s all-time low price. If you want to buy even more AirTags, Amazon , Walmart , and Best Buy are also currently selling a four-pack for $79.99, about $20 off, which is $5 shy of their best price yet. This is the same discount we saw last week for Black Friday — and one likely to carry through Cyber Monday — but it remains one of our favorite budget-friendly deals we’ve seen so... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/w7i8pzV

Illustration by Aaron Fernandez for The Verge Black Friday used to be one day! Feels like it started mid-November this time around, and here we are on Sunday. How is this day different from Cyber Monday? How will Monday be any different than Tuesday? It’s all a barely differentiated smear at this point. But the good news is that the deals are still here. They’ll be here tomorrow, too, but if your Sunday plans include scanning for deals, at least you’ll find plenty of them. Most of the good deals we’ve seen on phones, smartwatches, headphones, and accessories are holding steady through the weekend — we’ve checked them all to be sure. This post is where we collect the highlight deals, but our Black Friday / Cyber Monday / Undifferentiated Commerce Smear coverage goes well beyond a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/1NYS4H6

Illustration by Aaron Fernandez for The Verge Black Friday 2023 has come and gone, and we’re cruising toward Cyber Monday — but that doesn’t mean all of yesterday’s deals are history. Quite the opposite. You can still take advantage of big savings at many retailers. Whether you’re shopping for a new smartphone, the latest noise-canceling headphones, or a stylish smartwatch, a ton of popular products are still heavily discounted. Whether you’re checking off everyone on your list for the upcoming holidays or you’re just shopping for the best prices for yourself, we’re scouring all the quality deals Black Friday has to offer and logging them right here. But keep in mind that our Black Friday and upcoming Cyber Monday coverage goes well beyond a single post. You can find it all here ,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9uWyRtU

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge The best laptops for you, from ultraportables to gaming machines, MacBooks to Chromebooks. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/12mrayF

Amazon’s got a ton of discounts on its own products. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge For what feels like the billionth time this year, Amazon is once again throwing a massive sale on an assortment of its own devices. This time, however, it’s in honor of Black Friday , which kicks off today. Not that we’re complaining. A lot of the standout deals we last saw during Amazon’s recent Prime Day event are back, after all, giving you yet another opportunity to save on the new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max , the Echo Pop , and the Kindle Scribe , among other tech. In some cases, Amazon is even offering steeper discounts than we saw in October, which is also the case at Best Buy, Target, and other retailers. Here, we’ve rounded up the best Black Friday deals you can already get on Amazon devices. We’ll also continue to update this... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/j8a3Vh1

Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge A collection of cool, calming, and creative gifts to show your appreciation for that special maternal figure in your life. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/n1LlESm

Image: Atlus More than just about any other game studio, Vanillaware is known for its style. At the same time, the developer is constantly shifting between genres. It originally made waves with the side-scrolling action RPG Odin Sphere , and more recently released the sci-fi epic 13 Sentinels , which is part visual novel, part turn-based mech-vs-kaiju combat. Holding all of these disparate ideas together is Vanillaware’s incredible 2D art, along with a clear to desire to experiment. Given how the studio loves to jump around so much, it’s probably not too surprising that its next project, Unicorn Overlord , will be a grand-scale tactical RPG inspired by the classics. Ahead of the game’s launch next March (it’s coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch)... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZQysB5T

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Every Black Friday and Cyber Monday , there’s always a ton of hype about the discounts on big-ticket items — you know, the deals on the OLED TVs, game consoles, and tablets of the world. But it never fails that many of the ultra-cheap items make for some of the most clutch deals, namely because spending very little on a small accessory you end up using all the time can be the most gratifying. This year, we’re once again keeping an eye out for the best tech deals on those little gadgets and gizmos under $25. We’ve also got a roundup for those working with a $100 budget , but the items below are pretty much as cheap as you can get in the tech world without simply buying absolute crap that’s destined to end up as e-waste. Some of these... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Z1IUBJh

Closeup of an all-electric F-150 Lightning. | Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Ford announced it is cutting production capacity on its upcoming electric vehicle battery plant, amid cooling customer demand for purchasing EVs and rising labor costs. The automaker says it will reduce its original $3.5 billion planned investments to build the Michigan plant to somewhere around $2 billion and is now only expecting to hire 1,700 workers instead of 2,500. Ford had originally announced the ambitious Michigan battery plant in February in partnership with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a company that makes LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries. The plant will now only produce about 20 gigawatt-hours of batteries per year, which is about a 43 percent cut. In order for EVs to qualify for up to $7,500 in... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fH0jE5P

Photo by Berke Bayur/Anadolu via Getty Images In the early hours of Wednesday morning, OpenAI announced that Sam Altman is returning as CEO , following a shock firing on Friday. Over the weekend, it looked like Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman might end up at Microsoft , leading a new AI research lab. But after days of negotiation, that’s no longer the case and OpenAI has appointed a new board of directors and brought back Altman as CEO of the company. After a weekend of chaotic scenes, including hundreds of OpenAI employees threatening to quit and join Microsoft, things seem to be settling down. Microsoft CTO and EVP of AI Kevin Scott has now addressed Microsoft employees about the OpenAI turmoil. It’s the first company-wide communication to Microsoft employees about the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/a0VOobP

Video conference service Google Meet is adding gesture recognition to make it easier to ask a question during a video call. | Image: Google Google Meet can now recognize when your physical hand is raised on camera during group video calls and alert the host. This means you don’t have to fiddle with clicking the “hand raise” button on the screen and accidentally send a clapping emoji to everyone in the call (I speak from experience). In a blog post published today, Google announced the feature is now rolling out to Google Workspace business and education users. It uses gesture detection to recognize when your hand is raised and alerts the meeting host that you want to speak. A hand-raised icon in your video window will also show to other participants. Essentially, it does the same thing as clicking the hand raise button , but in a more natural way. For it to work, you’ll... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/69MI0dF

Photo Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Bad news: flagship phones cost a small fortune these days. Good news: we can help you pick the right one and get the most for your money. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/MRTdF3P

Nick Barclay / The Verge Binance owner and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has agreed to step down and plead guilty to breaking anti-money laundering laws, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Forbes . This comes as part of the major settlement the Department of Justice is expected to announce this afternoon, which will reportedly require Binance to fork over $4.3 billion in fines. Even though Zhao can no longer assume an executive role at Binance, the WSJ reports the terms of the agreement will let Zhao keep his majority ownership of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao is expected to enter his plea at a Seattle court on Tuesday, with sentencing to come at a later date. Richard Teng, Binance’s head of regional markets, is in the running to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nMjJomv

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Sam Altman’s surprise move to Microsoft after his shock firing at OpenAI isn’t a done deal. He and co-founder Greg Brockman are still willing to returning to OpenAI if the remaining board members who fired him step aside, multiple sources tell The Verge. The promised mass exodus of virtually every OpenAI employee, including board member and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever who led the move to depose Altman, means that there is more pressure on the board than ever, with only two of the three remaining board members needing to flip. Altman just posted on X that “we are all going to work together some way or other,” which we are told is meant to indicate that the fight continues. we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/4MDzvfL

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge The latest numbers are in for how much our planet is projected to heat up this century, and it’s got me sweating. Look, I am not a numbers person. And if I didn’t write about climate change for a living, this latest report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) wouldn’t hit the same. It says that this century, global temperatures are on track to reach between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius above where they were prior to the Industrial Revolution. That statement’s a snooze, right? Well, here’s why I’m stress-eating Corn Pops while writing this. It felt like 139.5 degrees Fahrenheit (59.7 degrees Celsius) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday. That was the heat index, a measure of both heat and humidity that’s crucial because... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Km2Vjdb

Emmett Shear at TED 2019. | Photo by Lawrence Sumulong/Getty Images OpenAI has a third CEO in three days: Emmett Shear. After a shock firing of former CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear is officially taking over as interim CEO of OpenAI. The Information first revealed Shear’s appointment on Sunday night. The official announcement comes just an hour after Microsoft confirmed it had hired Sam Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman to form a new advanced AI research team. “Today I got a call inviting me to consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to become the interim CEO of OpenAI,” says Emmett Shear in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “After consulting with my family and reflecting on it for just a few hours, I accepted.” Shear resigned as Twitch CEO earlier this year, after... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/i4gmdNE

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Microsoft is hiring former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman . Altman was fired from OpenAI on Friday, after the board said it “no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” After a weekend of negotiations to potentially bring Altman back to OpenAI, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman will be joining Microsoft’s new advanced AI research team. “We’re extremely excited to share the news that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team,” says Nadella. “We look forward to moving quickly to provide them with the resources needed for their success.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Altman... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bYh5eT9

Illustration: The Verge After a weekend of negotiations to bring back Sam Altman as OpenAI CEO following his shock firing, the company’s nonprofit board has gone another way entirely and named former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear as interim CEO. Shear will take over as interim OpenAI CEO from Mira Murati, who was publicly aligned with Altman. The news was first reported by The Information . That’s three CEOs in three days, if you’re keeping track. The hiring of Shear appears to close the door on Altman’s exit after he was fired Friday when the board said he had not been “consistently candid in his communications.” As we reported Saturday , the board quickly began discussing the CEO’s return under pressure from investors and the threat of a mass employee walkout. On... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6tZh3UD

Starlink Standard terminal | Image: SpaceX SpaceX quietly introduced a new Standard Starlink terminal that’s slimmer and simpler than the previous version, with a 10 percent broader field of view and no motor for setting up — instead, it comes with a kickstand; to orient it, you simply move it. A Starlink support page says the kit is available “by invitation only to a small group of early customers in the US.” SpaceX bumped its weather resistance rating up from IP54 to IP67, meaning it should be totally dust-proof and can be submerged in one meter of water for as long as 30 minutes before potential damage. Starlink’s specifications page says it can operate in winds over 60MPH. Speaking of which, the company will sell mounts in case you’d rather secure it in place. It’s otherwise... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fr2waAx

Image: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 15, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, hello, sorry in advance for all my terrible jokes, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I’ve been watching André 3000 talk about life after “Hey Ya,” reading this fun profile of Marques Brownlee and this wild story about the Mirai hackers , finally conquering all 48 Mario Kart 8 courses , watching unhinged Phil Collins music videos on repeat, and trying to find the silliest possible custom GPTs. ( Add a walrus is a tough one to beat.) I also have for you a new webcam, a new word game, a new show about monsters, a new iMessage hack, and a whole bunch more. Oh, and a favor... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fnIzsEV

Sam Altman. | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The OpenAI board is in discussions with Sam Altman to return to CEO, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. One of them said Altman, who was suddenly fired by the board on Friday, is “ambivalent” about coming back and would want significant governance changes. Developing... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/TFgHQXk

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta has reportedly broken up its Responsible AI (RAI) team as it puts more of its resources into generative artificial intelligence. The Information broke the news today, citing an internal post it had seen. According to the report, most RAI members will move to the company’s generative AI product team, while others will work on Meta’s AI infrastructure. The company regularly says it wants to develop AI responsibly and even has a page devoted to the promise, where the company lists its “pillars of responsible AI,” including accountability, transparency, safety, privacy, and more. The Information ’s report quotes Jon Carvill, who represents Meta, as saying that the company will “continue to prioritize and invest in safe and responsible... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/pNurPcj

Nothing Chats shown in a promotional image. | Image: Nothing Nothing has pulled the Nothing Chats beta from the Google Play store, saying it is “delaying the launch until further notice” while it fixes “several bugs.” The app promised to let Nothing Phone 2 users text with iMessage , but it required allowing Sunbird, who provides the platform, log into users’ iCloud accounts on its own Mac Mini servers, which... isn’t great? The removal came after users widely shared a blog from Texts.com showing that messages sent with Sunbird’s system aren’t actually end-to-end encrypted — and that it’s not hard to compromise it. The app launched in beta yesterday after being announced earlier this week . Sunbird has access to every message sent and received through the app. They do this by abusing @getsentry ,... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/yh2IiTw

How exactly does this thing show me a funny cat picture so I can momentarily escape the drudgery of a visit to the DMV? | Image: Humane Last week, Humane debuted its AI Pin as a phone replacement without a screen. You interact with it through voice, and a tiny projector displays things like media controls and incoming calls on the palm of your hand. The idea is to allow you to simply move through the world, unencumbered by digital devices constantly demanding your attention. To wear the AI Pin is to live in a world beyond screens. It’s a beautiful vision that I’d love to buy into. But here’s the thing: screens are great, and I don’t think we can, or even should, ditch them quite yet. Humane’s whole deal centers on the screenless-ness of its product — founder Imran Chaudhri said as much in his TED talk earlier this year . In Humane’s view, screens are a barrier between us... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/DwMlcxr

Meta says Emu Edit “precisely follows instructions” to avoid altering anything besides user-specified changes. | Image: Meta Facebook and Instagram are getting some new AI-powered creative tools that will allow users to edit their photographs and produce “high-quality videos” using text descriptions. On Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced two new capabilities built on Emu — the company’s foundation model for image generation — that are being integrated into Facebook and Instagram. The first, dubbed “Emu Edit,” will allow users to “precisely alter images based on text inputs.” The video demonstration for this looks similar to existing tools provided by Adobe , Google , and Canva , providing a way for users to remove or replace objects and people from photographs without any professional image editing experience. Image: Meta It... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/CHNBaPj

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta is challenging the European Commission’s decision to regulate two of its services, Messenger and Marketplace, as gatekeepers under the bloc’s tough new restrictions on tech platforms. The company filed an appeal over the two services today arguing that neither should qualify, Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro told The Verge . Reuters reported earlier Meta will not fight the European Commission’s gatekeeper designation from being applied to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Being designated as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act means that tech platforms have to abide by certain neutrality and openness rules. Messaging services like Meta’s Messenger need to be made interoperable with other messaging services; sales platforms like... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/kL4G7Av

Google Titan security keys (2023) | Image: Google The latest iteration of Google’s Titan Security Key is here , ready to work alongside the new passwordless passkey technology that’s rolled out with support from Apple, Microsoft, Google, and many others. Two new versions of the key are available in the Google Store starting today with either a USB-C connection ($35) or USB-A connection ($30), and — like the previous versions released in 2021 — both also have NFC to connect wirelessly to phones and other mobile devices. I’ve been using the USB-C version for a few days, and it works just as well as other keys I have, like the older Titan hardware and other FIDO2 keys from Yubico. Having NFC support on both versions is convenient so that you don’t have to choose, especially since when... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/PUw8buo

Image: Daniel Golson Last week, I attended Polestar Day, a massive event put on by the Geely-owned Swedish brand in a hangar at the Santa Monica airport. The Volvo offshoot company invited hundreds of media, investors, and owners to experience the latest products and upcoming models and learn about a bunch of new technology innovations and partnerships that were announced at the event. Polestar 3 SUV This was the media’s first opportunity to ride in the Polestar 3 , the Porsche Cayenne-fighting SUV that will be built in South Carolina and go on sale in the US in the second quarter of 2024. I rode in a fully loaded 3 with the optional Performance package, which bumps output to 517 horsepower, adjusts the torque vectoring and all-wheel drive... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/VjfEe5M

Image: Getty ExxonMobil is getting into the lithium production business. The company announced on Monday that it’s going to become a “leading producer of lithium” by opening its first drilling operation in southern Arkansas. The demand for lithium has grown in the past couple of years, with the metal serving as a key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles, phones, laptops, and other tech. ExxonMobil plans to start producing lithium in 2027 and says it could make enough lithium to supply over 1 million electric vehicles per year by 2030. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil purchased 120,000 acres of lithium-rich land spanning a geologic formation — called the Smackover Formation — in Arkansas. To access the lithium, the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/hUwOfyM

Photo Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Dee Dwyer for The Verge The US is the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas. Can Granholm chart a path to a more sustainable future? Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fVSmi8Q

Illustration: The Verge Google is suing scammers who are trying to use the hype around generative AI to trick people into downloading malware, the company has announced. In a lawsuit filed today in California, the company says individuals believed to be based in Vietnam are setting up social media pages and running ads encouraging users to “download” its generative AI service Bard. The download actually delivers malware to the victims, which steals social media credentials for the scammers to use. “Defendants are three individuals whose identities are unknown who claim to provide, among other things, “the latest version” of Google Bard for download,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendants are not affiliated with Google in any way, though they pretend to be. They have... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/tLjD04q

Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple started using OLED screens in the iPhone X back in 2017, and before that, in the first Apple Watch. And the Touch Bar, of course ( RIP ). But it’s been slow to move away from LCD elsewhere, like its iMacs, MacBooks, standalone displays, and iPads. I want OLED on all those things, but if the iPad Pro gets it first, as rumor has it, then that’s fine by me. There’s no product where the use of an LCD panel bothers me more than my 11-inch iPad Pro. It’s got a nice-looking screen so long as I’m looking directly at it. Go a little off-axis, though, and the screen gets way dimmer. That’s true of my laptop, too, but I’m always sitting directly in front of that screen, and almost always looking at a browser window with text in it. Contrast... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/bdTo8RL

Image: Netflix Following last year’s The Sandman , Netflix is bringing even more beloved Neil Gaiman characters to the small screen. This time it’s Dead Boy Detectives — which was originally slated to stream on Max — based on a crime-solving duo who made their debut in a Sandman comic in the ’90s. The news was paired with the first trailer for the series, which shows off a pretty fun-looking supernatural whodunit. For those unfamiliar, here’s the basic setup, courtesy of Netflix: Do you have a pesky ghost haunting you? Has a demon stolen your core memories? You may want to ring the Dead Boy Detectives. Meet Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind the Dead Boy Detectives agency. Teenagers born... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/UXr7Lcp

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) reached a tentative deal with Hollywood studio executives, effectively ending the 118-day actors strike . Yesterday, SAG-AFTRA announced that its national board has approved the agreement, 86 percent to 14 percent, and recommended union members vote to ratify it. The deal is still technically pending until union members’ vote is tallied on December 5th, though the guild says some of its features will go into effect during the ratification process, such as certain pay raises. SAG-AFTRA offered a summary of the deal in its announcement: Streaming revenue: Revenue from streaming shows was a huge part of the guild’s fight. The guild says it “achieved... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/7q09aWj

Image: Netflix Season 4 of The Witcher may be far off on the horizon, but there’s still plenty more of Geralt of Rivia in store on Netflix. At its Geeked Week event today, the streamer announced The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, an animated movie that takes place right in the middle of season 1 of the live-action show and is based on the short story A Little Sacrifice . Doug Cockle, the voice actor from The Witcher 3 video game , will be reprising the role of Geralt. Here’s the official description: Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster hunter, is hired to investigate a series of attacks in a seaside village and finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople. He must count on friends — old and new — to solve the mystery before... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/pvzf5O9

Photo: FX Thanksgiving is coming, and after that, December and all of its various holidays. For many of us, this means lots of cooking and traveling and family gatherings, with all that entails. And this year, conversations around the dinner table may be even more fraught than usual. So we asked the staff of The Verge what tools — hardware, software, physical, or mental — they use to get through the holidays. How do they deal with the demands of the kitchen or the demands of the kids? What gadgets and games make things happier and more interesting? Here are some of their answers. Go for a walk Jay Peters, news editor I generally love the holiday season; I’m very fortunate to have family that I can happily hang out with for days at a time. Every... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6tL5MBD

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery just canned Coyote vs. Acme , a live-action and animated film featuring John Cena and the classic Looney Tunes hijinks of Wille E. Coyote. Director Dave Green confirmed that the nearly completed film will not be released shortly after Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter broke the news. Coyote vs. Acme is the third almost finished film that CEO David Zaslav has shelved for financial reasons. Like Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt , Coyote vs. Acme got sent to the vault so Warner Bros. Discovery can get a tax write-off as part of its efforts to cut billions in costs following last year’s megamerger. Coyote vs. Acme film cost around $72 million to make, according to The Hollywood Reporter , making for a $30 million tax... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/A6sZEWy

The Pulse Explore earbuds retail for $199.99. | Image: Sony PlayStation fans have a ton of gadgets to look forward to in the next few months. The new PlayStation 5 “slim” has already landed (at least in limited quantities), while the PlayStation Portal is set to arrive in less than a week. Meanwhile, the $199.99 Pulse Explore earbuds and $149.99 Pulse Elite headset are slated to launch on December 6th and February 21st, respectively. If you can’t wait to get your hands on the Pulse Explore and Pulse Elite, you can preorder them starting today, November 9th, in the US, UK, France, Germany, and other European countries. To help make the process a little easier, we’ve rounded up all the details you need so you can place your preorders ASAP. Where to preorder the Pulse Explore earbuds The Pulse... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/m54cZIH

A new screen, a pile of improvements, and better pricing make this everything the original should have been. Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZJTqmGo

Sony’s $200 gaming device is just around the corner. | Image: Sony For months, rumors had been circulating about the release date for Sony’s upcoming handheld, the PlayStation Portal. In August, Sony finally gave us an answer: the PlayStation Portal will launch on November 15th . The portable device, which will be able to stream PlayStation 5 games over Wi-Fi, will retail for $199.99. There is a chance the PlayStation Portal will sell out as quickly as the PlayStation 5 did when it was first released , which is perhaps why Sony is currently limiting orders to one device per customer. We have yet to test the Portal — stay tuned to The Verge dot com on that front — but if you’re someone who wants to secure a unit at launch, rest assured it’s still available for preorder at multiple retailers in the US and... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/V5EsIpN