Asus updates its overkill gaming phones with Qualcomm’s new overkill processor

The ROG Phone 5S Pro has a small display on its rear. | Image: Asus

When you’re selling high-spec gaming-focused phones, it makes sense to have the most powerful processor possible. At least, that’s the only explanation I can come up with for why Asus would announce its new Snapdragon 888 Plus-powered ROG Phone 5S lineup, just months after releasing the original ROG Phone 5.

There are two new S-branded phones, the ROG Phone 5S and the ROG Phone 5S Pro. Aside from its 888 Plus processor, more responsive 360Hz touch-sampling rate, and increased maximums of 18GB RAM and 512GB of storage, the 5S appears to be a very similar device to the ROG Phone 5. That means it’s also got a 6.78-inch 144Hz display, 6,000 mAh battery, and triple rear cameras with a 64-megapixel main sensor.

Both feature more responsive...

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Google’s Fuchsia OS is rolling out to every first-gen Nest Hub

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Google has started to push out the silent upgrade to its new Fuchsia operating system on first-gen Nest Hub devices (known as the Google Home Hub on release), meaning the secretive project will be broadly used by consumers after years of opaque development. The OS, which unlike Android isn’t based on Linux and uses a microkernel called Zircon, was previously made available to some devices enrolled in a preview program back in May.

Now, Google has confirmed to 9to5Google that a new firmware update for non-preview Nest Hub devices includes the Fuchsia upgrade, meaning that all first-gen devices should be running Fuschia already or very soon. I just checked the one on my desk — which Google explains how to do here — and sure enough, turns...

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Say goodbye to Intel’s RealSense tech by remembering its incredible demos

Intel’s RealSense computer vision tech will soon be going away, as the company is “winding down” the business, according to CRN. If you don’t remember the tech from January of this year, where Intel pitched it as a way to create facial recognition systems, you may remember it from some incredible tech demos (or possibly a few devices, if you were really paying attention).

Now that the tech is on its way out, perhaps it’s a good time to look back at some of the cool ways we’ve seen it shown off to remember the good times.

• CES 2013 — Intel talks about, and demos, what it calls “perceptual computing.” The company pitches its tech as a way to interact with your computer by moving and talking, and the next year...
• CES 2014 — Intel announces...

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The Spectrum TV app is back in Roku’s channel store after being yanked

Roku users who’ve been unable to get Charter’s Spectrum TV app through the platform’s channels store can once again do so after months of being unable to download it.

Roku announced on its blog today that new and existing users can access Spectrum TV on its devices by signing into the app using their Charter broadband credentials or by signing up for an account through Roku. The agreement resolves an ongoing carriage dispute that resulted in Roku pulling the Spectrum TV app from its store in December. The companies issued a joint statement on Tuesday that both had come to “a mutually beneficial agreement to renew distribution of the Spectrum TV App.”

“As a result of the renewal, the Spectrum TV App is now available for download from the...

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You can now queue to purchase a PS5

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sony began releasing a fresh batch of PlayStation 5 consoles through its online storefront today at 5:15PM ET / 2:15PM PT. Both the $499.99 version of the PS5 that can accept discs and the discless version that costs $100 less are currently available for order, however, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to purchase one if you make it through the public queue, which can take an upwards of an hour.

If you’re unfamiliar with Sony’s ordering process, it uses a slightly better queuing system that automatically places you in line if you’re on its site when the sale goes live. Consoles still tend to sell out quickly, as they have done since the console launched late last year.

If you’re looking for tips on securing a PS5, be attentive, listen...

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There’s still a place for the Note in Samsung’s Galaxy

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

For the first time in many years, August will come and go without the introduction of a new Galaxy Note smartphone from Samsung. Instead, with their lower prices and improved durability, the company is giving its latest foldables — the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 — a firm push into the mainstream phone market. With the Z Flip selling for a penny under $1,000, it’s certain to stand out from the iPhone and Samsung’s own Galaxy S21 devices that cost a similar amount (or more).

But for repeat buyers of Notes past and present, it does feel like there’s something missing. We’re talking about the brand that established Samsung as the leading manufacturer of huge phones. Yet the company has completely skipped producing a new Note this...

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YouTube Premium subscribers can get three months of Stadia Pro for free

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google is offering a new promotion to YouTube Premium subscribers — three free months to try the games included in Stadia Pro, as long as you’re a new subscriber (via 9to5Google). While there’s a chance someone willing to pay to remove ads from YouTube may have already messed around with Stadia, three months is a solid amount of time to see if cloud gaming makes sense for you, and it’s two months longer than Stadia’s usual free trial.

The deal comes with a few caveats, naturally. Besides limiting the free months to new subscribers, Google is also only offering the promotion in the following countries: the US, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. You...

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Roblox is struggling to moderate re-creations of mass shootings

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

For over a year, Anti-Defamation League researcher Daniel Kelley has been finding re-creations of a horrific mass shooting on Roblox — and every time he looks, he says he finds more. Kelley told The Verge it’s happened three times: first in January 2020, then again in May 2021. The most recent incident came on August 13th, as he was preparing a presentation on how to report offending content.

“I would like one time,” Kelley said on Twitter after the last incident, “to search for ‘Christchurch’ on Roblox and not find a new recreation of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting on a game platform aimed at very young children.”

The mosque shooting, which killed more than 50 people, has been condemned as one of the most violent single acts of...

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Latest iOS 15 beta fixes the Safari address bar and lets you move it back to the top

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple has updated Safari’s design in the latest iOS 15 beta (Developer Beta 6), making the address bar look and act more like what users are used to and giving you the option to put it at either the top or bottom of the screen. Safari’s redesign, especially on iPhones, has been controversial since it was first announced, but it seems like Apple is starting to walk back the floating design that’s persisted throughout the beta.

MacStories founder and podcaster Federico Viticci has posted screenshots of the new design on Twitter, showing off the changes. If the user chooses to have the address bar on the bottom, it sits above a row of controls, including back and forward buttons, a share button, and the tab button. (In previous versions of...

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EVgo launches new pricing plans and a rewards program

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge

EVgo is changing how it prices the electricity that gets doled out on its electric vehicle charging networ, and is launching a nationwide rewards program for its customers.

Starting in September, the company will start offering three ways to pay for charging on its network across the country. There’s the typical pay-as-you go option, which has the highest price-per-minute of charging and requires a $1.99 fee for each charging session. There’s a basic membership program that requires $4.99 per month of pre-payments toward charging, but which waives the session and (in most locations) offers per-minute rates that cost a few cents less. And now there’s a higher-tier $6.99 per-month subscription plan called EVgo Plus that drops the session...

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Twitter launches new process for reporting COVID misinformation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

On Tuesday, Twitter announced that it will begin testing a new reporting feature for users to flag tweets containing possible misinformation.

Starting today, users will be able to report misinformation through the same process as harassment or other harmful content, through the dropdown menu at the top right of every tweet. Users will be prompted to select whether the misleading comment is political, health-related, or falls into another category. The politics category includes more specific forms of misinformation like content related to elections. The health category will also include an option for users to flag COVID-19-specific misinformation.

The new feature will be available on Tuesday for most users in the US, Australia, and South...

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Amazon removed Hub lockers from two Chicago parks after public outcry

Photo: Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez

Amazon has removed two of its Hub lockers from parks in Chicago after public outcry over blocked sidewalks, Book Club Chicago writes. While they offer a convenient place to pick up packages and drop off returns, a locker making a public park less accessible might not be the kind of tradeoff even a devoted Amazon customer is comfortable with.

Photos shared by the 33rd Ward Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez make it pretty clear how egregious the placement was, at least in Brands Park. Technically, you could still roll by the locker and get to the rest of the park, but that possibility goes away as soon as someone stands in front to get something out.

I’ve spent a good part of my morning handling the placement of an Amazon box at a park in my...

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Nerf just made the iconic Aliens Pulse Rifle into a badass foam blaster

That huge carry handle, pump-action underbarrel grenade launcher, and digital ammo counter on the side: is there a more iconic sci-fi weapon than the Aliens M41A Pulse Rifle? Now, it’s about to become an iconic Nerf blaster as well, because Hasbro has just announced a $95 version that flingsfoam darts — enough of them that it might actually be viable in a stock Nerf war!

You see, unlike Nerf’s $130 blaster rifle from The Mandalorian or most of its Overwatch toys, this 28-inch long blaster isn’t just a prop with a few token foam projectiles inside: it’s a fully-automatic blaster that takes Nerf Elite-sized dart magazines a la the fan-favorite RapidStrike, powered by four C batteries, plus “movie-inspired blast sounds.”

O...

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Apple says SharePlay won’t be part of initial iOS 15 release

Image: Apple

One of iOS 15’s marquee new features, SharePlay, has been delayed and now won’t be rolled out until after the major update is released this fall. Apple has informed developers that SharePlay will be disabled in the next betas of iOS 15, iPadOS15, tvOS 15, and macOS Monterey. SharePlay allows people to enjoy entertainment (TV shows, movies, music, etc.) together at the same time and syncs everything up across devices.

The company has confirmed that this feature will be absent in the official release of iOS 15 when it widely rolls out in the fall. Apple now says that SharePlay will return “in future developer beta releases and will launch to the public in software updates later this fall.”

“We’re thrilled with the high level of enthusiasm...

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Thrilling new trailer for Star Wars’ anime anthology series is filled with action and style

Image: Disney

Disney has shared an impressive trailer for Star Wars: Visions, its anime anthology series premiering September 22nd on Disney Plus. The trailer oozes style and flair, and it looks like the series will tell some thrilling new stories in the Star Wars universe.

Visions will feature nine animated shorts from seven anime studios. Disney also revealed the English dub voice cast, which features some big names including Alison Brie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Harbour, Neil Patrick Harris, Lucy Liu, and Temuera Morrison (who is reprising his role as Boba Fett). You can see more of the cast here on the official Star Wars website. And Disney says that you’ll be able to watch the series both with the English dub cast and the original Japanese...

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Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones appear again in leaked promotional photos

Image: WinFuture

After first surfacing last month in an FCC filing (which Bose quickly withdrew), the company’s upcoming QuietComfort 45 headphones have now been leaked more extensively courtesy of WinFuture. Set to be priced at $329, the QC45s certainly look the part of a successor to the popular QC35s. The overall design is very similar, with some modern refinements like a USB-C port thrown in.

According to WinFuture, the QC45s will offer active noise cancellation, an Aware Mode for piping in outside noise, and be tuned with Bose’s signature Active EQ. Battery life is expected to be up to 24 hours of continuous playback. A quick 15-minute charge will give the headphones 2.5 hours of listening time. Multipoint pairing to two devices at the same time...

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CES 2022 to require proof of vaccination for attendees, exhibitors

After an online-only event this year, the CTA is still planning to put on CES 2022 as a hybrid event with in-person and digital components. Today the CTA announced that if you’re planning on showing up in Las Vegas, then you will need to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

PROOF OF COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIRED

On August 17, CTA announced that all attendees and exhibitors will need to show proof of vaccination in order to attend CES. CTA continues to monitor guidelines for health safety measures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nevada and Clark County. CTA will follow applicable federal, state and local laws, adapting CES plans accordingly and sharing updates with you and other CES audiences. We are also...

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Platforms struggle with Taliban policy amid chaotic US withdrawal

Taliban fighters patrol a road in Kabul | Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Social platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are coming under new scrutiny for the way they treat Taliban accounts, as the militant Islamist group emerges as the dominant power in Afghanistan in the wake of the US withdrawal. While none of the platforms have publicly changed their policies on the group, moderation practices have come under close scrutiny, and many are shifting resources to ensure the policies are appropriately enforced.

A particular question raised by The Washington Post is whether the group will be allowed to wrest control of the official Facebook and Twitter accounts for the government of Afghanistan. While the Taliban has seized effective control over the government, granting access to official accounts...

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Google Pixel 5A comes with a bigger battery and screen, smaller price tag

The Google Pixel 5A features a 6.34-inch display and IP67 water-resistance rating. | Image: Google

Google has officially revealed the Pixel 5A 5G, a phone it kind of announced in April to contradict rumors that it had been canceled. It comes with a short list of updated features compared to its 4A 5G predecessor, including a slightly bigger screen, a much bigger battery, and an IP67 rating for water resistance.

Few though they may be, these are some important tweaks to an already good midrange phone, and the best part is that the price has gotten smaller: in the US it will cost $449, which is $50 less than the Pixel 4A 5G’s introductory price. The 5A goes on sale in the US and Japan on August 26th.

Image: Google

The 5A supports wired charging only, and Google says it’s the last Pixel phone that will ship with...

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Google Pixel 5A review: boring, but better than ever

Smart updates and a lower price

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The Google Pixel 6 won’t ship with a charger

Google joins Apple and Samsung by ditching the in-box charger. | Image: Google

Google is the latest manufacturer to bid farewell to the in-box charging brick, saying it expects the Pixel 5A will be the last phone to include one. That means the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro won’t include one when they arrive this fall.

The company says that most people already have a USB-C charging brick, so there’s no longer a need to include one with its phones. Apple and Samsung made similar arguments when they announced they would no longer be offering an in-box charger. That may be true, but it’s likely that the cost savings of not including a charger played a big role in those decisions.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Google says it expects the Pixel 5A to be the last phone to include the charger.

T...

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Microsoft hires former Uber exec to lead a new consumer apps effort

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge

Microsoft is hiring Manik Gupta, the former head of product at Uber, in a renewed effort to boost Microsoft’s consumer apps. Gupta will be responsible for Microsoft Teams consumer, Skype, and GroupMe, and he will report directly to Jeff Teper, Microsoft’s head of Microsoft 365 collaboration.

Gupta spent four years at Uber running the various teams that contribute to the Uber app, and he also oversaw product management for Google Maps for seven years. While Gupta has a lot of experience in maps, that’s not why he’s joining Microsoft. The software giant appears to be keen to tap into his wealth of experience in consumer-focused apps.

“Manik’s experience... will be invaluable to us building world-class consumer experiences across all of...

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YouTube will show video chapters right in search results

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube is announcing some new features for search to make it easier to find what you’re looking for amid the huge amount of content on the platform.

One helpful update is that YouTube will show video chapters right in search results, which should make it easier to jump to the exact part of a video that might be most helpful to you. Instead of having to tap into a video and scroll through the chapters just to find exactly the information that you’re looking for, you’ll be able to see the chapters from a search so you can navigate to certain spots in a video more easily. YouTube is also adding video previews to search results on mobile, meaning you can see a short clip of a video before you tap into it.

Video previews are coming to...

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There’s finally a new Densha de Go! train controller, and it’s awesome

Imagine if you were really into a video game series, but no one released a controller that let you play it properly for 14 years. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the situation that fans of Densha De Go! found themselves in until recently. Taito’s quirky train-driving franchise has been around since the mid-‘90s across countless systems and devices, but it just isn’t the same if you can’t slam the brakes with a giant lever as you pull into the station 17 seconds late.

This month, though, a company called Zuiki came to the rescue with the release of an officially licensed Densha de Go! controller for the Nintendo Switch. It works with the latest version of the game, Hashirou Yamanote-sen, and it marks the first console controller to be...

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Boston Dynamics shows how bipedal Atlas robot flips, vaults, and falls over in latest videos

Boston Dynamics has published a pair of new videos showcasing its bipedal Atlas robot. The first is typical Boston Dynamics flash, with two Atlas units demonstrating an extremely impressive gymnastics routine. They flip, they vault, they _nearly fall_over but not quite — it’s brilliant. The second video, though, offers an unusually transparent assessment of Atlas’ capabilities, as the company’s engineers explain what goes into creating these routines.

As Boston Dynamics has said before, Atlas is essentially a research project: a cutting-edge machine that helps the company’s engineers work out better control and perception systems. “At a practical level it’s a platform for us to do R&D on,” says Benjamin Stephens, control lead for Atlas,...

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Scuf’s Instinct Pro has more pop, but fewer features, than the Xbox Elite Series 2

This dizzyingly gorgeous gamepad is a costly investment. | Scuf

Scuf has introduced two pricey controllers, the $170 Instinct and the $200 Instinct Pro. They’re made for Xbox, and to that end, they feel like Microsoft’s official controller in fit and finish. I mean that quite literally because they have the same dimensions as the newer Xbox wireless controller that ships with the Series X and S consoles.

The similarities go all the way down to the main board, which Scuf told The Verge is, in fact, the same as Microsoft’s. This means that Scuf’s new controllers will use Microsoft’s dynamic latency input protocol to nip lag in the bud, and they will get all of the firmware updates and improvements as the official Xbox controllers. These are the first wireless controllers made by a third party that...

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This suitcase-sized power station is designed to get you through a blackout

Zendure’s latest “portable” charger is the SuperBase Pro 2000, a hulking power station equipped with a 2,096Wh battery that’s designed to get you through everything from a camping trip to a blackout. Weighing in at 46.5 pounds (21.2kg), it’s only portable in the technical sense of the word — you’re much more likely to use its built-in handle to wheel it around like a rollable suitcase. It’s launching on Indiegogo with an early bird price starting at $1,299.

We’ve generally liked Zendure’s more portable chargers designed for smaller devices like phones and laptops, and this isn’t the first time it’s offered a beefier power station for more power-hungry electronics (competitors Aukey and Anker sell similar units). But what sets the...

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Fortnite copies Among Us in new Imposters mode

_Fortnite: Imposters_is a new, limited-time game mode that’s rolling out today, one that might sound a bit familiar to anyone who’s played Among Us(one of the _other_incredible popular online games right now).

Imposters puts players into two teams. One team, with up to eight agents, has a goal of maintaining the headquarters of one of Fortnite’s secretive factions (the Imagined Order) by accomplishing various tasks. The other is a team of two imposters (Epic apparently couldn’t be bothered to change the name) whose goal is to take out all the agents.

At any point, if players find an eliminated player (or see something too suspicious), they can call a meeting, where players can discuss the events of the game and vote off...

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iOS 15 lets you disable Night Mode on an iPhone camera

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple is introducing an option to fully disable Night Mode on an iPhone camera in iOS 15. While you’ve always been able to turn off Night Mode for a particular shot, the iPhone camera will also re-enable it the next time it detects it needs to be used. In iOS 15, you can now toggle whether the camera remembers Night Mode has been turned off.

Night Mode is often a useful way to capture great photos in low light, but occasionally there are times when an iPhone enables this mode and you end up with a photo that’s worse with Night Mode enabled. If you’re someone who prefers to have full control over their iPhone camera, _9to5Mac_notes that you can effectively disable Night Mode in iOS 15:

• Go to settings
• Pick camera
• Pick preserver settings
• T...

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Meet the self-driving brains working with Volkswagen and Ford

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky on a new partnership with Lyft and setting realistic expectations for self-driving cars

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