Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseand its sequel both touched on how difficult it tends to be for superheroes to juggle all of their various responsibilities. But Sony’s new short film, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, from director Jarelle Dampier and writer Khaila Amazan digs a bit deeper into Miles Morales’ head to emphasize why it’s important for people to share their feelings — especially when those feelings keep you in a constant state of fight or flight.
Rather than any specific supervillain, The Spider Within pits Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) against an embodiment of all the anxieties he’s been dealing with while staying on top of his grades, secretly working as a superhero, and hiding his double life from his father...
Overwatch 2’s ninth season is nearly over, and when the tenth begins on April 16, the hero shooter is getting a few significant changes.All of its heroes will no longer be locked behind the battle pass and the game will get a new shop dedicated to Mythic Skins only. But Overwatch 2 is also getting a new Damage hero in …
Image: Hello Games
No Man’s Sky just keeps on expanding. Hello Games is releasing the game’s 27th update today, dubbed “Orbital,” and it adds some major features including improved space stations and a tool for customizing ships.
The studio says that the stations are now much larger and more impressive from the outside and that the insides are now “vast, procedurally generated, and incredibly diverse.” Most notably, they now feature ship editors where players can customize their personal spacecraft.
“We haven’t introduced customisation previously, because so many players love exploring to find the perfect ship already out there to purchase,” Hello explains. “In keeping with exploration, to customise their ship, Travellers gather and trade parts for their...
A sudden eruption of gunfire shocked a crowded stretch of Mott Avenue in Queens, where some shoppers and children saw a police officer’s last moments.
In a video game, you’re only as good as your weapon. Try getting through Elden Ring’s hardest boss battle without a powerful sword, or a tough multiplayer match in Halo 3 without nabbing the Needler and unloading on an incoming Ghost. Even the most elite-level gamers among us owe some of their talent to the quality of…
Same Disney Plus, new logo. | Image: Disney
Disney has been hinting at some big changes in the Disney Plus branding. In recent days, lots of users checked their TV, tablet, or phone to find the streaming app had a new logo — the iconic Disney blue replaced by a glowing green background. The new logo has been controversial: some people see it as a needless simplification of a familiar design; some people appreciate that it doesn’t look like every other streaming service; some people find themselves wondering if the color really changed or if they’ve just been looking at their TV wrong all this time.
Well, it did change. Permanently. That new green color is called “Aurora,” both in tribute to the aurora borealis and the protagonist of Sleeping Beauty. (I don’t remember much of this...
It’s Hulu. In Disney Plus. | Image: Disney
As of today, Hulu is part of Disney Plus. Hulu still exists — it still even has its own app — but it’s also being bundled into Disney’s primary streaming service alongside all the company’s other content. Even the Disney Plus logo changed to integrate that iconic green Hulu hue.
From a product perspective, the Hulu integration is roughly what you’d imagine. Hulu is now a tile inside the app, next to Marvel and Pixar and National Geographic and the rest. The price hasn’t changed; it’s still US-only, and the app’s not going away. Hulu shows and movies will also show up in search results and recommendations; if you’re subscribed to Hulu, you’ll get everything seamlessly, and if you’re not, the app will try to convince you to sign up....
The collapse severs the southern stretch of Interstate 695, a critical portion of the Baltimore Beltway that runs through the areas around the port.
A proposed settlement between Visa and Mastercard and merchants on swipe fees promises savings, but it may also alter the economics of premium credit cards.
The Treasury secretary, who plans to make her second trip to China soon, will argue that the country’s excess industrial production warps supply chains.
The housing crisis is likely to be solved in cities and states, not Washington.
Plus, you missed your chance to own Indiana Jones’ whip.
The six men worked for a company that often maintains bridges operated by the state. They were repairing the bridge’s roadway when it was struck by the ship.
Anti-migrant rhetoric in the aftermath of the attacks at the concert venue outside Moscow has spurred fears that the tragedy could cause ethnic strife inside Russia.
Speaker Mike Johnson has faced fury from ultraconservatives after a bipartisan spending bill.
We need to start asking better questions about what kinds work for teachers and students.
What three recent essays suggest about a new vision.
The hip-hop mogul denied sexual assault accusations in a bombshell suit in November. As more allegations piled up, his business empire, and reputation, faltered.
North Carolina Republicans are “in the running for the most MAGA party in the nation.”
A year after losing her daughter in the Covenant School shooting, Katy Dieckhaus is speaking about Evelyn, and the changes she wants to see.
A new approach to reviving victims of cardiac arrest has a higher rate of success than conventional CPR.
Turrets, towers and tapestries greet guests at these evocative hotels in reimagined historic buildings in London, New York and beyond. (The food’s not bad, either.)
A “yes new taxes” campaign violates every principle of American politics. But it’s the right choice for this moment.
Actor Penn Badgley reads the essay “Watching Them Watching Me” and reflects on the power of apologizing to your children.
Colon and rectal cancers are increasing among people younger than 50. Experts have a few ideas about why.
A new, high-tech approach called ECPR can restart more hearts and save more lives. Why aren’t more hospitals embracing it?
The author has dominated horror fiction, and arguably all popular fiction, for decades. Here’s where to start.
Farmers of fruits and vegetables say coverage has become unavailable or unaffordable as drought and floods increasingly threaten their crops.
The experimental effort, which has not been disclosed, is being used to conduct mass surveillance of Palestinians in Gaza, according to military officials and others.
As “Carrie” turns 50, George R.R. Martin, Sissy Spacek, Tom Hanks, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others recall the powerful impact the writer’s work has had on their lives.
You won’t stop at just one, once you discover what they can do for your garden: “People get obsessed.”
Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, ended her Senate campaign, despite an early air of inevitability to her candidacy.
Mr. Musk helped create China’s electric vehicle industry. But he is now facing challenges there as well as scrutiny in the West over his reliance on the country.
The president’s complicity with Israel’s assault on Gaza has damaged his relationship with the Irish people, perhaps irreparably.
Founded in 1831, the opulent private club has long guarded its membership list closely. A leak this month caused a scandal.
Tesla and China built a symbiotic relationship, with credits, workers and parts that made Mr. Musk ultrarich. Now, his reliance on the country may give Beijing leverage.
Wang Xiaoshuai is among the few Chinese artists who refuse to bend to state limitations on the subjects they explore.
After enjoying decades of prosperity, the country has hit stubborn economic turbulence.
The man charged with shoving a man from a subway platform had a violent history, according to officials. The man who died was recovering from his own troubled past, his family said.
Trump Media attracted a frenzy of interest on its first day of trading, and is now worth nearly $8 billion. Here are the basics of what’s happening.
A new study suggests that two killer whale populations in the North Pacific are distinct enough to be considered separate species.
Guy Rivera, 34, fired on Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, after being ordered out of an illegally parked car in Queens, the authorities said.
Mr. Kennedy’s allies hope his choice of a wealthy Silicon Valley lawyer to be his running mate will inject new energy and financial support into his independent bid for the White House.
His tilted walls of rusting steel, monumental blocks and other immense and inscrutable forms created environments that had to be walked through, or around, to be fully experienced.
There are two plausible theories for who’s behind the terrorist attack in Russia. Both are terrifying.
Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Independent presidential candidate and notable anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tapped Nicole Shanahan, a wealthy Silicon Valley lawyer, as his running mate. Shanahan previously contributed $4 million to Kennedy’s super PAC, helping to bankroll a 30-second campaign ad during this year’s Super Bowl.
Shanahan, who was formerly married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin, has donated heavily to Democratic candidates in the past. In the campaign announcement speech, Kennedy called his running mate “exactly the right person,” as someone who “shared my passion for wholesome healthy foods, chemical-free for regenerative agriculture, for good soils.” He called her a “technologist at the forefront of AI” who uses “neural nets” to...
A string of top stars denounced the hiring of Ms. McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, on their own airwaves.
Russian narratives served to deflect attention from the failure to prevent the deadly attack while rallying the country behind the war in Ukraine.
Along with the Xbox 360 console, you can also build a controller and a “copy” of Halo 3_._ | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
It wasn’t easy to grab ahold of the Mega Xbox 360 building set when it was first launched in September, but not only is it now in stock, it’s also on sale. Right now, you can buy the adorable collector set at Target for $99.99 ($50 off) — an all-time low and its first discount to date.
The Target-exclusive set comes with 1,342 Mega Bloks you can use to build a replica of Microsoft’s 2005 console, a “copy” of Halo 3, and even a physical achievement notification. These blocks are like Mattel’s versions of Legos, which are pretty slick, even if not comparable in build quality. You can also use them to build a stellar little replica of the Xbox 360 controller, which comes with soft, movable joysticks, a light-up guide button, and plenty of...
After his event in North Carolina was disrupted by demonstrators, the president said that “we need to get a lot more care into Gaza.”
Image: Microsoft
Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and AMD have all been pushing the idea of an “AI PC” for months now as we head toward more AI-powered features in Windows. While we’re still waiting to hear the finer details from Microsoft on its big plans for AI in Windows, Intel has started sharing Microsoft’s requirements for OEMs to build an AI PC — and one of the main ones is that an AI PC must have Microsoft’s Copilot key.
Microsoft wants its OEM partners to provide a combination of hardware and software for its idea of an AI PC. That includes a system that comes with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), the latest CPUs and GPUs, and access to Copilot. It will also need to have the new Copilot key that Microsoft announced earlier this year.
...
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images
Productivity platform Airtable is bringing generative AI summaries, categorization, and translation to all of its users with the general availability of Airtable AI.
Companies like Microsoft and Google have integrated AI features into their productivity offerings. But a recent survey from Slack, which also has AI features now available, found that most office workers use generative AI mainly for summarization and writing help. The new features would make Airtable the latest platform to see generative AI’s potential as a productivity tool that can generate content based on information companies have on their workspaces.
Airtable, already a repository of workflow data for its users, makes a good case study for AI as a productivity...
A day after two of the entertainment executive’s homes were raided by federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, his lawyer said his client is innocent.
Since signing on with NBC, the former Republican Party leader has downplayed her role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A review of the record showed she was closely involved in some key episodes.
Donald J. Trump’s son-in-law and his former ambassador to Israel have amplified policy proposals embraced by Israel’s far-right wing, but U.S. activists say their anger still rests with the current administration.
Federal investigators search for answers about how a massive cargo ship struck a major bridge minutes after leaving the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday.
Also, the Supreme Court seemed skeptical of an effort to curtail abortion pill access. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
The war in Gaza has sorely strained relations between Israel and the United States, and the leaders of both countries have allies at home who would pull them farther apart.
It’s been just over a decade since BioShock series creator Ken Levine closed down Irrational Games to form “a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor” that would become Ghost Story Games. The studio’s first project, Judas, has been in the works for ten years as well, and after a few trailers teasing the BioShock spiritu…
A Turkish official said two of the suspects had made recent trips to Turkey, but were radicalized earlier.
If you played Red Dead Redemption or a recent Grand Theft Auto and wondered “Hey, why hasn’t Hollywood made either of these open-world blockbuster games into movies?” then you should know that you aren’t alone. In fact, you have some famous company, as Jack Black is wondering the same thing.
I was out with friends recently and the age-old topic of games that pushed us to the point where controllers were thrown came up during a conversation about Smash pro Riddles doing that very thing at a big tournament last year. The usual suspects were discussed over drinks: FromSoft games like Dark Souls and Sekiro:…
His Bible sales pitch comes as he appears to be confronting a significant financial squeeze, with his legal fees growing while he fights a number of criminal cases and lawsuits.
The former president and the current one are now on the same page about Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s political future. It was not always that way.
The all-electric SUV set a new record as the first globe-trotting EV. | Image: Ford
Ford neglected to share the maximum range of its newest all-electric Explorer when it announced the Europe-only EV last year. We’ve gotten those details today, however, in an announcement Ford made detailing specs and availability. It came alongside word that it’s set a new world record with renowned traveler Lexie Alford as the first to circumnavigate the globe with an electric vehicle.
The Explorer EV’s 375-mile range (602km) is above average for the American automaker and impressive for an SUV in general, even if it’s calculated using the EU’s more forgiving WLTP formula for testing and calculating total range. For comparison’s sake, the company’s all-electric F-150 Lightning tops out around 265 miles under the same testing standard.
...
The man appeared to have a history of arrests and had been hospitalized at least twice for mental health treatment, according to officials and family.
Several justices questioned the remedy of applying nationwide restrictions to mifepristone because it would be the first time a court had second-guessed the F.D.A.’s regulatory authority.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Audible will co-develop and co-produce TV shows adapted from original podcasts and audiobooks with Amazon MGM Studios that it can pitch to Prime Video and MGM Plus, as well as buyers outside of Amazon. The news was first reported by Variety.
Adapting recognizable podcast IP with a built-in audience is usually a safe bet for Hollywood. Chris Morrow, the head of audio at the production company Plan B, which signed a multi-project development with Audible last year, noted to The Verge that the goal was to use audio to “help launch IP, and then ultimately find new life for it as scripted features or scripted documentaries.”
A number of originals from both of Amazon Music’s podcast properties, Audible and Wondery, have turned into TV shows...
Even conservative justices seemed skeptical that the plaintiffs suffered any real harm.
On Fox News and elsewhere, the commentators have expressed incredulity over the reaction to the hiring of Ronna McDaniel, the former chair of the Republican National Committee.
Marianne Smyth was convicted of grand theft after she claimed that her family had cut her out of an inheritance. She faces extradition to Northern Ireland on separate fraud and theft charges.
The order limiting the former president’s speech came the day after Justice Juan M. Merchan set an April 15 trial date for the hush-money case.
Thirteen abortion-rights protesters were arrested near the Supreme Court as part of a civil disobedience action. Abortion opponents were less numerous but still vocal.
The performance artist Christeene’s show honoring the Irish musician’s debut album touched down in New York with Peaches, Justin Vivian Bond and plenty of nudity and tears.
Photo by Perry Knotts / Getty Images
The NFL will hold its first regular-season game in São Paulo, Brazil, later this year — but you’ll need a Peacock subscription to tune in. Peacock will exclusively air the game on Friday, September 6th, featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and a not-yet-named opponent.
This marks the third football game to stream only on Peacock, as the streaming service previously aired an NFL playoff match last January. It also aired an AFC Wild Card game last year that it says was the “most-streamed event ever in the US.”
Peacock has other big games lined up, too, but it will stream them alongside NBC. There’s the NFL kickoff game on September 5th, a Big Ten Saturday Night game on September 7th, and the season’s first NFL Sunday Night Football game on...
The government’s moves to bar an opposition coalition from fielding a presidential candidate makes it more likely that President Nicolás Maduro can retain his repressive hold on power.
But there are better ways to protect a bridge like the one that collapsed in Baltimore.
Reportedly, some third-party video game publishers aren’t sure why they should keep making and supporting games for Xbox consoles due to poor sales in Europe.
The ubiquitous ingredient contributes to the loss of tropical forests.
Amazon’s latest Kindle Kids comes with perks the standard version lacks, including a protective case and an extended two-year warranty. | Image: Kindle Kids
For some reason, Kindle deals have been hard to come by in the past few months, but now the tide appears to be turning. We recently highlighted several Kindle Scribe deals, but if you’re looking for something more budget-friendly, the 2022 Kindle Kids is also on sale. For the first time since Black Friday, the kid-friendly version of my favorite budget e-reader is on sale for $99.99 ($20 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. While $20 shy of the all-time low we last saw in October, it’s still one of its better prices to date.
Although the Kindle Kids is a kid-friendly e-reader, it works just as well for parents or adults without children. That’s because it’s identical to the standard ad-free Kindle in that it offers the same crisp 300ppi...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Microsoft is starting to preview mouse and keyboard support for Xbox Cloud Gaming today. Xbox Insiders will be able to start playing with their mouse and keyboard in Edge, Chrome, or the Xbox app on Windows PCs, nearly two years after Microsoft announced it was preparing to add mouse and keyboard support to its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service.
Not every game will be supported during the preview, but there’s a large selection, including Fortnite, Sea of Thieves, and Halo Infinite. Microsoft warns that some games will display controller UI elements briefly before adapting to mouse and keyboard input after you start interacting with the game.
If you’re interested in trying games with mouse and keyboard in the browser version of Xbox...
Most of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s magical orbs, known as materia, are rather self-explanatory. Many give you access to a new attack spell, others heal or revive you, others buff your party, and many more debuff your opponents. But there’s a three materia orbs that might initially seem to be rather useless: The ones…
People entered the water from a beach in northern Gaza, and around a dozen drowned, according to a local researcher who spoke to witnesses.
Nearly a decade after his indictment for securities fraud, Mr. Paxton will pay restitution, take legal ethics classes and do community service as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Image: Apple
Apple will be playing AI catch-up at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which starts with the keynote on June 10th and runs through June 14th. The company typically focuses on its planned fall software updates and announces some new hardware, and this year shouldn’t be any different. But, going into this year, there’s a lot of mystery around what the company has to say about its approach to generative artificial intelligence.
Apple has reportedly been spending millions a day to train its own models and rumor has it that it’s also been courting news outlets for training content partnerships. But other recent reports have suggested that it may cut a deal with Google, OpenAI, or Anthropic (or Baidu in China) to supply...
Officer Jonathan Diller, who joined the Police Department in February 2021, was fatally shot on Monday after questioning two men sitting in an illegally parked car.
Amit Soussana is the first former hostage to publicly say she was sexually abused in captivity. A U.N. report has said it found “clear and convincing information” that some hostages suffered “conflict-related sexual violence.”
Sony has announced an upcoming expansion to its existing Game Help experience for PlayStation 5. The feature, which allows developers to create hints for PS5 games that are accessible through the console’s control center, will be given an update in the form of Community Game Help. The new feature will be coming later…
Adobe is courting enterprise customers with its new GenStudio platform. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Adobe has announced a new AI-powered ad creation platform that aims to make it easier to use the company’s generative AI tools for building marketing campaigns. The new GenStudio application was introduced on Tuesday during Adobe’s Summit event, alongside an AI assistant for Adobe Experience and updates around Adobe’s Firefly generative AI model.
GenStudio effectively serves as a centralized hub for promotional campaigns, providing things like brand kits, copy guidance, and preapproved assets alongside a bunch of generative AI-powered tools that can generate backgrounds and ensure the overall tone remains on-brand. These tools also allow users to quickly create ads for emails and social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and...
The Wyze Cam v4. | Image: Wyze
You might think twice before buying a Wyze camera. The company’s security practices are questionable enough that I personally boycotted them in 2022, and since then, they’ve twice briefly let strangers peek into another Wyze owner’s home. In fact, The New York Times and CNET don’t recommend Wyze cameras anymore, and we haven’t done so for a while.
But some Verge readers have told us that if you’re pointing them outside of your home and recording to a local SD card, there’s no better bang for your buck. So, we figure some will appreciate Wyze’s announcement today of the Wyze Cam v4, on sale now.
The $36 camera is getting a big spec bump over the v3: it now captures 2.5K (2560 x 1440) video with what Wyze is sometimes calling HDR and...
An automated YouTube stream that broadcasts AI-generated Family Guy “episodes” based on user-submitted pitches was recently broken and made unwatchable after someone realized they could make the characters scream gibberish endlessly using a few specific commands.
The killing of a police officer and a fatal push on the subway underscore the challenges that Mr. Adams faces as he tries to improve public safety.
Image: The Verge
Google is releasing an optimized version of its Chrome browser for Windows on Arm this week, the search giant has announced alongside chipmaker Qualcomm. The official release comes two months after an early version of the browser was spotted in Chrome’s Canary channel. Qualcomm says the release “will roll out starting today.”
The release will be a big deal for any Chrome users with Windows machines powered by Arm-based processors, who’ll now have access to a much faster native browser. That’s in contrast to the x64 version of Chrome they’ve previously had to run in an emulated state with slow performance. Arm-based users have previously been able to turn to Microsoft’s Edge, which is already available for Windows on Arm devices.
Today’s...
Image: Nintendo
Delightful design and the beloved royal badass isn’t enough to save Peach’s first game in 19 years from being a touch boring.
Opposition from New York’s car culture remains shortsighted.
Vinyl reigns when it comes to physical media. | Image: RIAA
People bought 43 million vinyl records last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That’s 6 million more than the number of CDs sold in 2023, marking the second time since 1987 that’s happened and reflecting the steady 17-year-running growth of vinyl sales.
Vinyl, which tends to be pricier than the newer format, also far outstripped CDs in actual money made, raking in $1.4 billion compared to $537 million from CDs. The RIAA’s report shows that CD revenue was up, too, but in terms of physical products sold, people actually bought about 700,000 fewer CDs in 2023 than the year before. (If you’re curious, nearly half a million cassettes sold last year, too, according to Billboard.)
Image:...
Lake Mead, formed by Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States, at 47 percent capacity as viewed on August 14, 2023 near Boulder City, Nevada. | Photo by George Rose/Getty Images
The amount of hydropower generated in the Western US last year was the lowest it’s been in more than two decades. Hydropower generation in the region fell by 11 percent during the 2022–2023 water year compared to the year prior, according to preliminary data from the Energy Information Administration’s Electricity Data Browser — its lowest point since 2001.
That includes states west of the Dakotas and Texas, where 60 percent of the nation’s hydropower was generated. These also happen to be the states — including California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico — that climate change is increasingly sucking dry. And in a reversal of fortunes, typically wetter states in the Northeast — normally powerhouses for hydropower generation — were the...
For his campaign, navigating the platform has meant encountering over and over some of the thorniest issues plaguing Mr. Biden’s re-election bid.
The head of Russia’s top security agency said, without providing evidence, that the assault was “facilitated by Western special services.” Ukraine has denied involvement, calling the assertions “lies.”
Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us is currently filming in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Pedro Pascal, who plays post-apocalypse dad Joel Miller, has reportedly finished all of his parts just one month after filming began. If you’ve played Naughty Dog’s TLOU Part II, then you probably know why he’s…