Proposed federal standard would require cars to ‘prevent or limit operation’ by impaired drivers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

On Sunday, a bipartisan group of Senators published draft text of a massive new bipartisan infrastructure bill, proposing more than a trillion dollars in spending and a vast array of far-reaching provisions. But a little-noticed section in the bill could have significant implications in the fight against drunk driving, eventually mandating a new in-car safety technology to actively prevent Americans from driving while impaired.

Introduced under the heading “Advanced Impaired Driving Technology,” the provision would require the Department of Transportation to set a new standard for detecting and preventing impaired driving. The bill calls on the secretary of transportation to release a standard within three years, with the requirement...

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New Chromebooks will now have Google Meet installed by default

Here’s the Google Meet app on Chrome OS. | Google

With Chrome OS’s latest update, Google has announced that its Google Meet app will be preinstalled on all Chromebooks. The announcement is part of the company’s larger push to adapt its operating system for remote meetings.

The new feature shouldn’t make too much of a difference to longtime Chromebook users who already have a preferred video chat platform installed. But for new students receiving a Chromebook for the first time, or other folks who are trying the platform out, it could certainly mean the difference between using Google Meet for meetings and social calls or turning to competitors like Zoom.

Google also says it’s made performance improvements to Google Meet’s experience, including “adapting video calls to different...

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Netflix documentary Countdown will follow SpaceX’s first civilian mission

Image: Inspiration4/John Kraus

The first “all-civilian” mission to space is set to blast off on a SpaceX rocket in mid-September, and the process of getting those astronauts trained and (eventually) into orbit will be documented in a new five-part Netflix series called Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space.

Announced Tuesday, _Countdown_is being billed by Netflix as the first documentary series from the streaming company to cover an event in “near real-time.” Netflix says the first two episodes will arrive on September 6th, followed by two more on September 13th. The company says SpaceX is targeting September 15th for the launch, and if that schedule holds, the fifth episode — a “feature-length finale” — will premiere by the end of the month. The documentary is...

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Fandango chooses Vudu as the way forward for its streaming business

Image: Fandango

Fandango has announced that it will phase out the branding of its “FandangoNOW” streaming service and focus on Vudu as its lone app for rentals and purchases of movies and TV shows. The change means that Vudu will now become the default portal for rentals and purchases on many Roku devices, where FandangoNOW has long been the digital store for movies and TV content.

Fandango says the united service will “offer more than 200,000 new release and catalog movies and TV shows to rent or buy, including the largest collection of 4K UHD titles and thousands of titles to watch for free — all with no subscription required.” It’ll also continue to support Movies Anywhere and the high-quality video streams that made Vudu popular among home theater...

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Microsoft’s newest Xbox controller is a dazzling blue and has rubber side grips

Microsoft’s new Aqua Shift Special Edition Xbox controller. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft has just revealed its newest Xbox controller — the Aqua Shift Special Edition — and it has a striking, shimmery blue finish that makes it perhaps Microsoft’s flashiest controller yet. But the shiny blue color isn’t its only distinctive feature: the controller also has rubberized side grips that have “a unique dual color swirl on every unit,” according to Microsoft.

You can get a close-up look at the controller’s shiny finish and one of the grip patterns in a tweet from Xbox:

Close up, far out. Aqua Shift’s marble grips keep you in control pic.twitter.com/L2VLND8aCI

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 3, 2021

You can preorder the Aqua Shift Special Edition controller now in “select Xbox markets worldwide” for $69.99. For me here in the...

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Boeing postpones its Starliner mission after detecting a technical issue

Photo by Aubrey Gemignani /NASA via Getty Images

Boeing postponed the test launch of its uncrewed Starliner astronaut capsule on Tuesday, the company said in a statement. The delay was caused by a technical issue that popped up after lightning storms on Monday. Mission teams are determining whether the issues can be resolved in time for Starliner’s next launch opportunity on Wednesday around noon.

During routine engineering checks the day before Starliner’s planned launch, engineers noticed the position of some valves within Starliner’s propulsion system appeared out of place, Boeing said, adding that the issue was detected “following yesterday’s electrical storms in the region of Kennedy Space Center.” Starliner was slated to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on...

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Google Maps on iOS is finally getting a dark mode

Google Maps’ dark mode on iOS. | Image: Google

Google Maps will finally be getting a dark mode on iOS, nearly two years after Apple rolled out dark mode as part of iOS 13. The feature, which is arriving in the coming weeks, should be welcome for when you’re using the app at night or in dark environments. You can get an idea of what dark mode will look like in the picture at the top of this post.

To turn on dark mode, go to the settings menu, tap on dark mode, and then tap “on.” And if you want Google Maps to flip between light and dark mode to match your system settings, you’ll be able to do that, Google tells The Verge.

Google Maps on iOS is getting a couple other features in August as well. The app will support widgets and will offer two different options: one that shows the...

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YouTube creators can now get $10,000 per month for making Shorts

Image: YouTube

YouTube will pay creators up to $10,000 per month for making popular videos on its TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts. The company plans to pay $100 million throughout the next year, with the first payments going out this month.

The fund could mean a whole lot of cash for creators, but payouts aren’t guaranteed. The popularity needed to earn money will depend on just how many people are making and watching Shorts each month, and payouts will also depend on where each creator’s audience is located.

YouTube is also requiring these to be original videos. Reuploads and videos tagged with watermarks from other platforms — aka TikTok, Snapchat, or Reels — will disqualify a channel for payments. The payments are only available in 10 regions for...

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YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan on the algorithm, monetization, and the future for creators

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

A peek behind the curtain at the creator economy and what’s next for YouTube Shorts

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Microsoft will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter buildings in the US

Microsoft has informed employees that it will require proof of vaccination for anyone entering a Microsoft building in the US starting in September. Employees who have a medical condition or a protected reason, such as religion, that prevents them from getting a vaccine can get a special accommodation. The company has also pushed its full office reopening date from September to “no earlier than October 4th, 2021.”

Here is the company’s full statement, shared with The Verge:

As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we continue to closely track new developments and adapt our plans as this situation evolves, keeping employee health and safety top of mind. Based on our continued consultation with health and data experts, our...

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Get the Xbox Wireless headset and controller together and save $25

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

Online retailer Antonline is hosting bundles that include Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Headset and one of the new first-party Xbox wireless controllers for $25 less than it’d cost to purchase each item separately. There’s a bundle with the headset paired with a pulse red controller, a shock blue controller, and one with an electric volt controller. Each are selling for $140 right now, and Antonline suggests acting fast as it told us that deals including this headset tend to sell out quickly.

This bundle isn’t just a good deal, it’s a way to get your hands on the elusive Xbox Wireless Headset that has frequently gone in and out of stock since it released. Not to mention, it’s an incredible headset that should make most Xbox owners (or PC...

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HBO Max is now available on LG smart TVs in the US

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Having already brought it to pretty much every other streaming device and platform, today WarnerMedia announced that HBO Max is now available on LG smart TVs in the United States. The US rollout follows Latin America and the Carribean, where HBO Max came to LG sets in June.

HBO Max can be downloaded from LG’s channel store on TVs running the company’s webOS software. If you’ve enabled voice controls, you can also say “HBO Max” into your TV’s remote to open the app.

Image: WarnerMedia

HBO Max can be downloaded from LG’s channel store.

To anyone using a streaming device or game console to access their favorite services, this news might not matter much; HBO Max is easy to find on Apple TV, Chromecast with Google...

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You can get a Touch ID-equipped Magic Keyboard without buying a whole iMac now

It’s taken a few months, but Apple is now selling the new, Touch ID-equipped version of its Magic Keyboard for anyone to buy, starting at $149 for the standard version and $179 for a full-sized model with a numpad, as spotted by MacRumors.

The Touch ID keyboard was introduced alongside the M1 iMac earlier this year, but at the time, the only way to get one was to buy a new computer. Now, though, anyone can buy one of the new keyboards, albeit with one key caveat: the standalone models are only available in Apple’s usual white / aluminum color scheme, instead of the more colorful models that come with the brightly hued iMacs.

And for those who must have their accessories match, Apple is also selling the updated Magic Trackpad for $129,...

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The infrastructure deal could create pipelines for captured CO2

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) walks back to his office after a bipartisan group of Senators and White House officials came to an agreement over the Biden administrations proposed infrastructure plan at the U.S. Capitol on June 23, 2021 in Washington, DC.  | Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

A new generation of pipelines could be born out of the bipartisan infrastructure deal making its way through Congress. But instead of hauling oil and gas, the pipelines would carry planet-heating carbon dioxide. The massive bill would allocate funding for new infrastructure devoted to capturing carbon dioxide, and transporting it to places where it can be buried underground or used in products like carbonated soda.

Carbon capture technology aims to scrub CO2 directly at the source of emissions — but it’s remained controversial among climate activists, with many seeing it as a false solution that distracts from emission reduction goals. But Congress’ new bipartisan infrastructure plan would invest billions of dollars into the idea,...

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Lenovo’s Tab P11 Pro with an OLED screen is just $310 at eBay

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

There are a smattering of deals happening across the web. Some products we’ve covered are seeing some of the lowest prices yet. Like an 11.5-inch tablet with an OLED screen. For a limited time, Lenovo is discounting its Tab P11 Pro tablet that has a vivid OLED screen from its usual $500 price down to just $310 through Lenovo’s official eBay page. This is the base model that has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

My colleague Dan Seifert mentioned in the review of this product that this tablet is great for watching movies on, with its display and quad speakers packing a punch. This model is set to receive Android 11 in October 2021, and it will receive security updates through late 2023, according to Lenovo. Read our review.

It’s also a...

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Crime-tracking app Citizen now includes a premium-priced safety help line

Citizen

The crime-tracking app Citizen is now launching its own emergency response service, promising access to agents who can call 911 or keep tabs on a potentially dangerous situation. Protect, which costs $19.99 per month, builds on a beta program that launched earlier this year. It’s part of a larger — and sometimes controversial — expansion effort at the startup, which has built a crime-mapping system into a live broadcasting platform while experimenting with private security services.

Citizen Protect is essentially a private safety help line that draws on smartphone features like location tracking. When subscribers open the Citizen app, they can hit a button to call a “Protect Agent” via video, audio, or text. Agents are supposed to talk...

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Sri Lanka’s cannabis-seekers are gathering on Facebook

Illustration by Ari Liloan for The Verge

Facebook groups have become a gray market for the country’s weed dealers

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Amazon and Best Buy’s latest Fire TVs have a sleeker design and better HDR

Image: Amazon

Amazon and Best Buy are continuing on with their TV partnership that started three years ago. Today, the companies announced new Insignia and Toshiba TVs that run Amazon’s Fire TV software. The latest F50 series improves on previous “Fire TV Edition” sets — Amazon is just calling them “Fire TVs” now — with expanded quantum dot HDR color for a more vivid picture. The new models also feature slimmer bezels, DTS Virtual-X audio from the built-in speakers, and continue to support Dolby Vision HDR.

Pricing will start at $599.99 for a 50-inch model, and the F50 series tops out at 70 inches.

Between different models and screen sizes (ranging from 24 inches to 75 inches) sold in the US and Canada, there are now over 80 Insignia and Toshiba Fire...

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Watch Boeing launch its astronaut capsule to space

Boeing’s Starliner capsule sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket | NASA/Kim Shiflett

Boeing is set to launch its Starliner astronaut capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, more than a year and a half after its first orbital Starliner test failed to reach the station and returned home earlier than planned. The mission is a test, and there won’t be any humans on board. If all goes well, it’ll mark a crucial step toward Boeing and NASA’s goal to use Starliner for routine astronaut missions, and a key chance to salvage the aerospace giant’s reputation after years of setbacks and controversies.

The test mission, called Orbital Flight Test 2, will launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station using an Atlas-V rocket built by United Launch Alliance. Starliner, sitting on top of the rocket, will...

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Blizzard president J. Allen Brack is out after sexual harassment suit, employee walkout

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In the last week or so, we’ve learned about the state of California filing a lawsuit against Blizzard citing numerous stories of sexual harassment at the company. The revelations have been followed by even more stories of unacceptable behavior by leaders of the company, and now the president of Blizzard (who was named in the lawsuit) is leaving the company “to pursue new opportunities.”

Employees were informed of J. Allen Brack’s departure this morning, and an announcement from Activision Blizzard says that former Vicarious Visions leader Jen Oneal and former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra will take over as co-leaders of the company.

J. Allen Brack:

I am confident that Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will provide the leadership Blizzard needs to...

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Realme launches MagDart magnetic wireless charging devices

As The Vergereported last week, Realme is working on a magnetic wireless charging system for its Android phones, and today it’s revealed a full range of products that’ll use the new technology. Realme is calling the system MagDart, and it’s basically a high-powered take on Apple’s MagSafe system for the iPhone 12 range of phones.

The key product in the lineup is the 50W MagDart charger, which Realme says is the world’s fastest magnetic wireless charger. It has an inescapably bulky cuboid design that makes room for a cooling fan, but Realme is banking that users will make the tradeoff for faster charging speeds.

When plugged into the company’s 65W SuperDart wired charger, Realme claims that the MagDart charger will fill a 4,500mAh phone...

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Twitter to work with AP and Reuters to provide more context around disputed topics

Twitter’s added context for content on its platform. | Image: Twitter

Twitter is working with news agencies the Associated Press and _Reuters_to more proactively combat misinformation on its platform, the company has announced. The platform’s internal teams already work to explain and add context to Twitter content, but it says the two news agencies will help provide more authoritative information, especially when facts are in dispute.

In particular, Twitter says it wants to be more proactive about providing accurate information on topics as they develop, before misinformation emerges. “Rather than waiting until something goes viral, Twitter will contextualize developing discourse at pace with or in anticipation of the public conversation,” the platform says. _Reuters_and the Associated Press will also...

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HP is flooding the zone with seven new gaming monitors

The X34 1440p monitor sits in the middle of the fleet of new models. | HP

HP has gone on a tear and announced seven new gaming monitors in its X lineup, featuring a range of sizes, panel types, and resolutions, as well as some that are curved or flat-screened. It seems like HP is aiming to deliver a flurry of options that have a high refresh rate, low response time, competent design, and crucially, competitive prices. HP is staggering this launch over the next few months, with availability starting now for some of its monitors and continuing through October.

To being with, there’s HP’s X27, which is available now and comes in a 1080p version for $259.99 or a 1440p variant called the X27q that costs $339.99. Both are IPS panels with a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time.

Resolution differences aside,...

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Amazon’s drone delivery program ‘one gigantic oversell,’ says report into UK operation

Amazon’s delivery drones have gone through many iterations, including the design above. | Image: Amazon

A new report from Wired into Amazon’s drone delivery program in the UK says the operation has lost over 100 employees, with insiders saying the project is “collapsing inwards.”

Citing testimony from former employees, _Wired_describes a culture of managerial dysfunction and overwork. In February 2020, for example, Amazon reportedly shut down a team of dozens in the UK dedicated to analyzing drone footage to identify humans and animals, only to re-open the unit months later. Other stories cited in the report include the fast turnover of senior staff, an employee drinking beer at their desk in the morning, and another “pinning down the ‘approve’ button on their computer so that all the frames of footage were being approved irrelevant of...

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Xiaomi overtakes Samsung to take top spot in European phone shipments in Q2 2021

The Xiaomi Mi 11 offers similar features to Samsung’s S21 ultra for much less money. | Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is continuing to post solid growth. After overtaking Apple as the number two smartphone vendor in the world in the second quarter of 2021, it’s now become the top seller in Europe for the first time, according to new figures from Strategy Analytics.

Xiaomi overtook Samsung to take the top spot in Europe, with 12.7 million phones shipped in Q2, up 67.1 percent year-on-year. Samsung’s shipments fell 7 precent in that same period to 12 million units, though the Korean company remains the world’s biggest phone vendor.

Overall smartphone shipments in Europe increased in 2021 thanks to post-COVID recovery, say Strategy Analytics’ researchers, with Apple also showing decent growth. The iPhone maker was up 15.7...

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Amazon will give you a whole $10 for your palm print

Amazon One identifies unique patterns in your palm to confirm payments in Amazon stores. | Image: Amazon

Amazon is offering $10 in credit if you enroll your biometric data in the company’s palm print recognition system, Amazon One. The promotion, spotted by TechCrunch_,_says people must connect their palm print to their Amazon account to claim the reward, though it’s not clear exactly where it’s available.

Amazon launched Amazon One in September last year, presenting it as an easy way to pay in the company’s stores, as well as a future identity service to be used by other venues and businesses. Users simply position their hand over the company’s scanners, which recognize their unique palm print based on its patterns of lines, ridges, and veins. This information can be used to verify payments in stores, but also in lieu of entrance tickets...

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This $55 Amazon Smart Soap Dispenser is dumber than a box of rocks

Not everything needs Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Case in point is Amazon’s new Smart Soap Dispenser, the latest let’s-stick-a-chip-in-it replacement for ordinary objects. And because it’s made by Amazon, it’s design to be paired with an Echo speaker to run Alexa routines.

Why? Well, according to Amazon, it’s to “automatically play songs, jokes, and more when you wash.”

The 12oz liquid soap dispenser is fitted with 2.4GHz (only) 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and features an LED timer around the top that reminds you to keep scrubbing until the CDC-recommended minimum wash time of 20 seconds has elapsed. The rechargeable battery is said to last three months on a single charge.

A feature available on touchless soap dispensers that cost a lot less

One useful...

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Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have officially divorced

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2019. | Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates filed for divorce on May 3rd after 27 years of marriage. Now, three months later, the separation of one of the world’s richest, most powerful couples has been finalized by a judge in King County, Washington.

Court records show that neither party will change their name or receive “spousal support,” report CNNand Bloomberg, but exactly how the Gates’ immense fortune will be divided is unclear. Washington is a community property state, which means all assets accumulated during a marriage must be divided equally in the event of a divorce. But the Gates’ split is being carried out under the aegis of a separation contract, details of which are unknown.

Bill Gates is currently the fourth richest man in the...

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Spotify is testing a less restrictive ad-supported tier costing $0.99 a month

‘Unlimited skips and on-demand listening’ for $0.99 a month. | Screenshot: Spotify

Spotify Plus is a new $0.99 subscription tier being piloted by the streaming service which combines elements of its existing free and premium tiers. The plan still features ads like Spotify’s free tier, but it doesn’t impose any limits on the number of tracks you can skip per hour. Users are also free to pick which specific songs they want to listen to, rather than mostly being limited to shuffling within albums and playlists. The new Spotify Plus tier is a tenth of the cost of Spotify’s unrestricted ad-free Premium tier, which currently costs $9.99 a month.

Spotify’s free tier has existed in its current form since 2018. It doesn’t let users skip more than six tracks per hour, and only lets them pick and listen to specific tracks from 15...

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NLRB officer says Amazon violated US labor law

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An initial assessment from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has recommended workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama hold a new election to determine whether to unionize with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The recommendation comes from the hearing officer assigned to the case and is only a preliminary ruling, but still hands the union a surprising win in a fight that many in the labor movement had considered lost.

In April, workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama voted not to unionize by a margin of more than 2-to-1. But in the aftermath of the result, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) alleged that Amazon had illegally influenced the drive and...

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