Exclusive TED chats are coming to Clubhouse

Image: TED

Clubhouse has another partnership, and this time, it’s with one of the most popular podcast networks. The company announced today that it’s partnering with TED to bring exclusive chats to the social audio platform throughout the summer and beyond. The first room, called Thank Your Ass Off, will start July 12th and run weekly at 11AM ET on Mondays. The company says additional rooms will launch soon, all going through TED’s Clubhouse club.

Under the deal, TED is free to sell brand partnerships or ads, if it’s interested, and Clubhouse won’t take a cut, a spokesperson confirms. The partnership makes sense given that people often compare Clubhouse rooms to TED talks, essentially meaning people wax on about big ideas and often do so in the...

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Richard Branson sets off on his voyage to space aboard Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and a crew of Virgin Galactic employees are airborne ahead of their rocket-powered ascent to space. A SpaceShipTwo spaceplane took off from New Mexico at 10:40AM ET Sunday, carried aloft by a WhiteKnight carrier plane. The mission, dubbed Unity 22, is the fourth test flight to space for the spaceplane and the first for Branson, the 70-year-old daredevil entrepreneur who’s been waiting over a decade for his debut trek out of Earth’s atmosphere.

About 50 minutes after takeoff, the SpaceShipTwo plane, dubbed VSS Unity, will drop from the center of Virgin Galactic’s twin-fuselage WhiteKnight plane at an altitude of around 45,000 feet. Moments later VSS Unity will ignite its single rocket engine to...

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ZSA’s Moonlander Mark I is the ultimate customizable ergonomic keyboard

But you’ll probably have to put in time to make it fit you

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Feds indict ‘The Bull’ for selling insider trading info on the dark web

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Nearly four years after the lights went out at AlphaBay, the feds are still charging people with criminal activities linked to the dark web marketplace. On Friday the SEC and the Department of Justice announced charges against Apostolos Trovias, a Greek national who they allege posted on dark web marketplaces using the nickname “The Bull.”

Trovias is facing charges of securities fraud and money laundering

However, unlike drug dealers targeted in previous actions, the authorities allege Trovias used dark web forums as a way to troll for people willing to buy or sell insider trading information while hiding behind “anonymizing software, screen names, and bitcoin payments.”

On AlphaBay and other dark web sites like Dream Market or...

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Bo Burnham’s Netflix special Inside will make a one-night-only theater appearance

Bo Burnham in Bo Burnham: Inside | Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

If you can’t get “Bezos I” out of your head, then you’re in good company as a soundtrack to Bo Burnham: Inside scored the comedian the first Billboard Top 10 appearance of his career. But since the musical comedy special was on Netflix and came out during the pandemic that inspired much of its content, you probably watched it alone.

Now fans of the special can see it in a group setting, as Netflix and Iconic Events have teamed up to present the special in theaters nationwide on July 22nd. Tickets are available at many theaters across the country, but you may want to move fast — at the moment there is only one showing per theater at the locations I checked, and some already show that they’re sold out.

Check the BoBurnhamInside.com...

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Watch Virgin Galactic launch Richard Branson to space

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is carried between the two fuselages of its WhiteKnight carrier aircraft during a 2016 test. | Image: Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic will launch Richard Branson and three company employees to the edge of space on the morning of Sunday, July 11th. The company is promising quite a show for the mission: Stephen Colbert will host the mission’s livestream, singer-songwriter Khalid will reportedly perform a new single live onstage following the spaceplane’s landing, and Branson has said he’ll “announce something very exciting” after his spaceflight.

The flight marks one of the company’s final test missions before it aims to kick off commercial space tourism business next year. The mission, dubbed Unity 22, will mark Virgin Galactic’s fourth flight to space carrying humans, with its largest crew yet. Four people, including Branson, will test the astronaut...

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Tesla finally begins shipping ‘Full Self-Driving’ beta version 9 after a long delay

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Tesla began sending out over-the-air software updates for its long-awaited “Full Self-Driving” beta version 9, the definitely-not-autonomous-but-certainly-advanced driver assist system.

As promised by Elon Musk, the software update (2021.4.18.12) began uploading after midnight on Friday, giving thousands of Tesla owners who have purchased the FSD option access to the feature, which enables drivers to use many of Autopilot’s advanced driver-assist features on local, non-highway streets.

Musk has been promising v9 of the software for, well, a while now

Musk has been promising v9 of the software for, well, a while now. He said in 2018 that the “long awaited” version of FSD would begin rolling out in August. He did it again in 2019,...

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The search is over: smart trackers from Apple, Samsung, and Tile compared

It’s never been easier to keep track of your keys

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Nintendo refuses to say if the OLED Switch fixes Joy-Con drift

Nintendo revealed a new model of the Switch this week that adds an OLED screen, enhanced speakers, and a much-improved kickstand. One thing it seems the OLED Switch won’t bring, however, is a fix for the Joy-Con drift issues that have plagued Switch owners for years — and frustratingly, Nintendo won’t even confirm that it won’t. A variety of publications including _The Verge_tried to ask the question, but Nintendo won’t tackle it head-on, despite other helpful answers like how the new Switch won’t have a new CPU.

Switch owners have been reporting Joy-Con drift problems for years, and the problem is bad enough that it’s the subject of numerous lawsuits — though Nintendo will unofficially fix controllers experiencing Joy-Con drift for free,...

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Kickstart your weekend with this week’s best tech deals

The Acer Swift 3, one of picks for the best student laptops, is on sale at Costco for $490. | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

The weekend has arrived, bringing with it an assortment of great discounts on everything from student-centric laptops to headphones to some games that launched as recently as this week. We’ve rounded up many of the highlights below, and if you’re looking for the best of the best and not just what’s currently on sale, we’ve also updated our comprehensive guides to the best streaming devices and best gaming laptops, both of which offer a host of entertainment options for looking to escape the summer heat.

Save $15 on TP-Link’s budget-friendly Wi-Fi Extender

You don’t necessarily need to opt for a Google Nest Wifi system or a similar mesh network in order to boost your home’s Wi-Fi network — sometimes a simply Wi-Fi extender like the...

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Samsung quietly launched its free TV service on the web

Samsung TV Plus displayed on a screen. | Image: Samsung

Samsung recently launched a web version of its free and ad-supported Smart TV Plus streaming service for live and linear programming as well as added casting support for Chromecast devices.

The streaming product, which was previously limited to Samsung TV and mobile devices, launched as a web service in the second quarter, Protocol reported Friday. It’s a curious new player in the streaming wars and launched with seemingly little fanfare, but the rollout makes an app that was previously limited to Samsung users now widely available to just about anyone.

Samsung did not have immediate comment about the launch when reached on Friday. However, a spokesperson confirmed the launch of the web version of the service to Protocol.

Samsung TV...

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Biden’s executive order puts net neutrality back in the spotlight

Earlier today President Biden signed the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, and in it there were several provisions relating to net neutrality. The prior administration’s FCC and FTC rolled back Obama-era rules in those areas, and now there is a clear agenda to restore them.

Directives for the FCC from the order:

(i) adopting through appropriate rulemaking “Net Neutrality” rules similar to those previously adopted under title II of the Communications Act of 1934 (Public Law 73-416, 48 Stat. 1064, 47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, in “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet,” 80 Fed. Reg. 19738 (Apr. 13, 2015);

(iv) prohibiting unjust or...

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President Joe Biden’s latest executive order is a huge win for right to repair

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

A sweeping executive order aimed at promoting economic competition and signed Friday by President Joe Biden called on the Federal Trade Commission to institute rules to curb anticompetitive restrictions that limit consumers’ ability to repair gadgets on their own terms.

Tucked into the executive order that covered 72 initiatives to promote competition in the US economy, Biden specifically asked the FTC to crack down on “unfair anticompetitive restrictions on third-party repair or self-repair of items, such as the restrictions imposed by powerful manufacturers that prevent farmers from repairing their own equipment.”

The order is a significant win for the right to repair advocates who have long championed a consumer’s choice to have...

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The FTC has reportedly opened an investigation into Amazon’s MGM acquisition

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, The Information reported Friday. The Information describes the probe as an “in-depth investigation into the deal,” which could signal that it will stretch on for many months. The investigation also means the deal will be scrutinized by an FTC newly headed up by Lina Khan, an antitrust advocate and an Amazon critic.

The FTC is focused on “the larger implications of the deal for Amazon’s market power,” The Information reported based on information from two people who knew of the probe, and that “the FTC is wary of whether the deal will illegally boost Amazon’s ability to offer a wide array of goods and services, and is not just limited to content...

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Space tourism rivalry gets extremely petty ahead of Branson’s spaceflight

As Richard Branson (left) prepares for his flight to space, the rivalry between his space company Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, owned byJeff Bezos (right) is heating up. | Left: Bloomberg / Getty Images, Right: Alex Wong / Getty Images

A PR war between two billionaire-owned space companies, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, is starting to get spicy.

Ever since Virgin announced it’d try to fly its founder Branson to space nine days before Bezos flies on his own rocket, Blue Origin has been on a warpath to discredit Virgin’s suborbital spaceplane, publicly attacking everything from the vehicle’s peak altitude to the size of its windows. Blue Origin’s CEO Bob Smith wished Branson well after Virgin’s announcement, but alleged he’s not really going to space — “they’re not flying above the Kármán line and it’s a very different experience.”

The Kármán line, 62 miles above ground, is the boundary of space recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique...

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League of Legends’ US championship will welcome back in-person fans

Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images

This year’s League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) finale is the latest esports event to welcome an audience to attend in person. Riot Games announced on Friday that the final two matches of the LCS Championship, the league’s postseason summer tournament, will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on August 28th and 29th, and fans will be able to attend the event.

During the pandemic, the league shifted to an entirely virtual format where players competed online and casters commentated remotely. It has moved slowly toward a return to events with fans. The final two matches of the Midseason Showdown tournament in April brought the players and production crew onstage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, but there...

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Amazon reportedly doesn’t want employees to know when they’re on performance plans

Photo by Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Managers at Amazon are instructed not to warn employees that they are being monitored under the company’s “Focus” performance management tool, according to documents obtained by The Seattle Times.

Focus is supposed to be a program where managers document how they are coaching employees and bringing their performance up to snuff. But in documents obtained by the Times, managers were instructed to not discuss Focus with employees, and instead they are supposed to more generally explain that the worker isn’t meeting expectations and how to improve. Managers would only be able to tell an employee they’re on the plan if they’re asked directly.

This means an employee could be on track to losing their job without ever knowing that their...

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How Tencent’s sweeping new facial scans will catch Chinese kids playing past curfew

Photo by Visual China Group / Getty Images

Tencent, the biggest game company in the world, is rolling out facial recognition technology that will likely scan many gamers’ faces every single evening, aiming to catch minors breaking a gaming curfew and help prevent video game addiction (via Gizmodo). That’s a lot of controversial concepts in one sentence, no?

Here’s what’s going on, according to the company and China games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad.

In China, video game addiction prevention is literally the law of the land, one that’s been evolving for many years but recently hit some important milestones. In 2019, China introduced a law that banned minors from playing video games between 10PM and 8AM or from playing more than 90 minutes on a weekday. And as of June 1st, 2021,...

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Universal films will head exclusively to Amazon Prime Video after their run on Peacock

Photo Illustration by Omar Marques / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

A licensing deal between Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Amazon will broaden Prime Video’s streaming library and bring anticipated titles to the service after a brief run on Peacock.

As part of a multiyear licensing deal that will begin in 2022, live-action Universal films will head exclusively to Prime Video after their earlier pay-one premieres on NBCUniversal’s own streaming service Peacock. Per the agreement, Prime Video and Amazon’s free and ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV will both snag a number of new and older Universal titles.

On Prime Video, Jurassic World: Dominion, The 355, and Ambulance will land on the service after their theatrical releases and earlier exclusive four-month run on Peacock. Amazon’s marquee...

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Witcher training is no fun at all in the first trailer for The Witcher season 2

The first trailer for The Witcher season 2 has arrived, hot on the heels of Netflix’s announcement that the show will be returning on December 17th, at the inaugural WitcherCon event. And unlike earlier teases, this one’s a proper, full-length look at the upcoming season.

Mild spoilers for The Witcher, season 1 ahead

What you've all been waiting for, Witcher family. Here's the first teaser trailer for Season 2, premiering December 17 on @netflix. #WitcherConpic.twitter.com/TT4yYttA5F

— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) July 9, 2021

Picking up where the first season left off, Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) has finally joined up with the exiled Princess Cirilla. The second season will see the two travel to Kaer Morhen, the mountain...

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The Witcher 3’s next-gen update will have DLC inspired by the Netflix show

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s free update optimizing the game for next-generation consoles, which is set to hit later this year, will include DLC “inspired by” the Netflix show, developer CD Projekt Red and Netflix announced at WitcherCon on Friday.

Very little was revealed about what the DLC will look like, but we did get a small tease of what you might be able to expect: “So as an example, you might be able to wear Geralt’s armor inspired by the Netflix series,” Philipp Weber, acting lead quest designer at CD Projekt Red, said during Friday’s WitcherCon stream. More information is coming soon.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt next-gen update is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC this year! Here’s a sneak peek of our updated cover art.

S...

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Apple reportedly wants in on NFL Sunday Ticket

Photo by Kevin Reece / Icon Sportswire / Getty Images

In the quest to get people to pay monthly for video, having the rights to stream sports, especially football, is key. Apple might finally be playing that game to spruce up Apple TV Plus: _The Information_reports the trillion-dollar phone maker has expressed early interest in securing the rights to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package — a subscription covering every game that is not airing on local affiliates — for its video service.

The NFL has reportedly not entered into actual negotiations yet, according to Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand_,_and Apple likely won’t be the only company competing. The Information writes that other streaming competitors, like Disney’s ESPN Plus and Amazon’s Prime Video, are likely also trying to secure even...

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Who wins when Amazon pulls brands from its store?

A RavPower wireless charging pad. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Not the consumer

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The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is coming to Netflix in August

The fantasy world of The Witcher is going to expand later this summer. At WitcherCon — a new event dedicated to, obviously, The Witcher — Netflix announced that the animated prequel Nightmare of the Wolf will debut on August 23rd.

The show, which was originally announced last year, is being handled by Korean studio Mir — best-known for its work on shows like The Legend of Korra — with Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich serving as a producer. The anime movie takes place before the events of the show, following Geralt’s mentor Vesemir. You can get a sense of the world and setting in the trailer above.

The Witcher debuted on Netflix at the end of 2019 and almost immediately became a huge hit. Since then, the streaming service has...

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A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda just sold for nearly a million dollars

A sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda for the NES just sold for $870,000 at Heritage Auctions, breaking the previous record for the most expensive game ever sold (as far as I am aware, at least). That record was just raised quite a bit in April when a copy of Super Mario Bros. was auctioned for $660,000, a price that more than quadrupled the previous known record.

As for why this version of the game is so valuable? I’m just going to leave part of Heritage Auctions’ grandiose explanation here:

While it is a hard truth, it is a truth nonetheless — none of the copies we’ve offered of this title previously could even attempt to hold a candle to this one due to its incredibly rare variant that holds early production status. This matter is...

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News Corp gives up on its ‘Knewz’ aggregator after 18 months

Image: News Corp

Knewz, the news aggregation site created by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to attempt to gain some leverage against Google and Facebook’s control over what articles users read, is dead. The website, curated by a mix of artificial intelligence and real breathing editors, lasted just 18 months before shutting down, presumably because News Corp began to get concessions from both Google and Facebook.

The garishly yellow front page of Knewz is gone, but you can still see its farewell message (and a plug for other News Corp sites). According to Knewz, it had provenance, “but not profits.”

Knewz’ trusted news sources are News Corp entities.

Knewz tried to bill itself as a publisher-friendly aggregator, pulling from sources big...

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US sanctions a Chinese facial recognition company with Silicon Valley funding

The US Department of Commerce has sanctioned 14 Chinese tech companies over links to human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, including one backed by a top Silicon Valley investment firm.

DeepGlint, also known as Beijing Geling Shentong Information Technology Co., Ltd., is a facial recognition company with deep ties to Chinese police surveillance, and funding from US-based Sequoia Capital. Today the Commerce Department added it to its Entity List, which restricts US companies from doing business with listed firms without a special license. Sequoia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeepGlint co-founded a facial recognition lab in 2018 with Chinese authorities in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, according...

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The Witcher’s second season is coming to Netflix on December 17th

Sharpen your swords and get your coins ready to toss: Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) is finally back for The Witcher’s second season on December 17th, revealed at the inaugural online WitcherCon event hosted by Netflix and CD Projekt Red.

Netflix’s Witcher shows are based directly on the novels and short stories by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski (not developer CD Projekt Red’s popular RPG games, which are original stories set after the books, although the show’s release did help boost a new wave of interest in the games).

The second season of The Witcher is just one part of Netflix’s expanded plans for the franchise: in addition to the main show, there’s also The Witcher: Blood Origin, a six-part live-action prequel miniseries that will...

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Nintendo is teaming up with Tag Heuer on a Mario-themed watch

The case for Tag Heuer’s upcoming Mario-themed watch. | Image: Tag Heuer

Nintendo, which is often associated with being a toy maker, is teaming up with, of all companies, luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer. The two companies revealed their collaboration on an upcoming Super Mario-themed watch in a psychedelic teaser posted on Twitter early Friday morning.

You can sign up now on Tag Heuer’s website to get early access to the “exclusive limited edition” watch which is coming “super soon.” Confusingly, Tag Heuer’s tweet says that you can “power-up on July 13th,” but the website has a clock that’s currently counting down to two days later: Thursday, July 15th at 10AM ET. If you’re interested in snagging one of these watches for yourself, you might want to register on the site to stay up to date on when you might...

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The best streaming device to buy right now

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Getting something great only costs $50

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