Microsoft’s Panos Panay now directly advises CEO Satya Nadella

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

It was just last February that Microsoft Surface chief Panos Panay was promoted to lead the company’s entire Windows software and device teams, and now he’s moving up in the world again — he’s becoming an Executive Vice President who’ll be part of the Senior Leadership Team that advises Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella himself, reports Bloomberg.

We’ve interviewed him quite a fewtimes over the years, and not just because he’s one of the company’s faces — as Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer, he’s had a direct hand in creating and introducing many of Microsoft’s Surface devices including the recent Surface Duo. Also, yes, he’s the one who’s perpetually pumped.

From a corporate standpoint, this means Windows will have a seat at the senior...

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Pokémon Go’s pandemic-era distance changes are here to stay

James Bareham / The Verge

Niantic announced Wednesday that it’s going back on at least one of its controversial gameplay changes to Pokémon Go. The company is permanently increasing the distance you can be from the real-world locations of Pokéstops and Gyms and still interact with them. The new base limit is 80 meters (262 feet), the distance Niantic introduced at the start of the pandemic.

At the start of August, Niantic reverted the in-game interaction distance back to 40 meters (131 feet) in the US and New Zealand, much to the disappointment of fans who had appreciated the added accessibility benefits and COVID-19 safety the change offered. Now Niantic is promising to keep the increased distance permanently, along with other changes it’s announcing on...

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Google finally releases YouTube Music Wear OS app, but only for Samsung’s new watches

Google’s Wear OS app for YouTube Music. | Image: Google

Google has finally released a Wear OS app for YouTube Music, which could seem like welcome news for people who have been waiting for a way to play their music off Google’s streaming service after the company shut down Google Play Music on Wear OS in August 2020. But the new app comes with a few caveats.

The biggest catch is that the new app only works on one of Samsung’s two new watches powered by Wear OS 3, according to Google. Those watches won’t be available until August 27th, so even if you want to try the new app right now, you won’t be able to unless you have a Galaxy Watch 4 or a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

Even if you have a compatible watch, it sounds like the app has some frustrating limitations

If you are lucky enough to have one...

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Microsoft’s Halo-themed Xbox Series X will be available for preorder Wednesday night at Walmart

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft’s Halo-themed Xbox Series X — one of the many announcements to come out of Gamescom Opening Night Live — is set to arrive on November 15th, nearly a month before the confirmed launch of Halo Infiniteon December 8th. Preorders for the $549.99, limited-edition bundle went live at the Microsoft Store and Target on Wednesday, with initial preorder stock selling out in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, if you weren’t able to snag the Infinite-ready console earlier, Walmart is giving you another chance Wednesday, August 25th, at 8:30PM ET / 5:30PM PT, according to a Walmart spokesperson who confirmed the details with CNET.

Like with all next-gen console restocks, we suggest signing in to Walmart and updating your address and payment...

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The manual for Facebook’s Project Aria AR glasses shows what it’s like to wear them

Image: Facebook

A manual uploaded to the FCC gives us a look at Facebook’s experimental Project Aria AR glasses, which apparently go by the codename Gemini (via Protocol). Facebook announced Project Aria in September 2020, with a message big on vision and light on details — though it was clear that the device exists to help Facebook in its quest (no pun intended) to create a computer that sees and understands the world. Seeing the actual headset’s manual gives us a bit of an idea about how it does that.

In some ways, the Gemini headset is like a real pair of glasses, though in other ways it’s very much not: it can be fitted with corrective lenses if need be, but you can’t fold the arms down or use it in a VR headset. And, of course, it’s loaded with...

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Google and Microsoft promise billions to help bolster US cybersecurity

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft promised to help bolster US cybersecurity after a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday. The pledges vary by company but range from spending billions on cyber infrastructure to offering supply-chain aid and education.

Wednesday’s high-profile meeting with tech CEOs comes on the heels of major cyberattacks against US government agencies and energy infrastructure like the Colonial Pipeline.

“The federal government can’t meet this challenge alone”

“The reality is, most of our critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, and the federal government can’t meet this challenge alone,” Biden said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Apple announced that it...

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Instagram’s improved search could help close the gap with TikTok

Image: Instagram

Instagram plans to more prominently feature photos and videos in search results in the future, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on Wednesday. The change could show the grid of photos and videos a keyword search can pull up alongside results for accounts and hashtags, not dissimilar to how TikTok displays results.

The search tweak is part of “a series of improvements designed for inspiration and discovery,” according to Mosseri. The company has used keyword search as a way to offer visual results — certain terms can pull up pages of suggested images — but Instagram’s new plan will give those more prominence. Mosseri writes that searching with a term like “space” will pull up suggested photo and video results along with traditional...

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Facebook is reportedly forming an election commission that it will announce in the fall

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook is considering creating a commission that would weigh in on global election-related issues on the platform, according to The New York Times. Facebook has talked to academics and policy experts about the commission, which The New York Times reports is expected to be announced this fall ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections.

Like how the independent Oversight Board helps review content moderation appeals, it sounds as if Facebook could ask the election commission to handle some decisions about election content. That could reduce the perception that Facebook’s decisions about content are politically biased, which has been a common criticism lobbed toward the company from conservatives. However, it’s unclear if this election...

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Android 101: how to organize your homescreen

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

If you’ve had an Android phone for any length of time, it’s easy to get used to living with, well, chaos. If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly adding new apps, deciding they’re okay but not great, adding another, and so on. Then, a few months later, as you’re scrolling through your app drawer, you’re surprised to see several apps that you forgot about and perhaps don’t even remember what they’re used for.

In a very short time, it can become a mess. And if you’re really an app enthusiast, it can start taking up more space than you can spare.

There are essentially two steps to making sense of all of those Android apps: find a way to organize them (and there are a variety of ways, depending on what you’re comfortable with) and...

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The biggest trailers and announcements from Gamescom Opening Night Live

Xbox kicked off Gamescom a little early, but the show got its proper start with Opening Night Live hosted — as always — by Geoff Keighley. It was a lengthy event clocking in at a hefty two hours, but there was a lot on show, from surprising crossovers to big names like Halo, Horizon Forbidden West, and Death Stranding.

If you weren’t able catch the event, here’s all the biggest announcements and best trailers.

Firaxis is making a Marvel game

One of the biggest surprises was news that XCOM developer Firaxis is dabbling in the Marvel universe with Midnight Suns. It’s described as a tactical RPG — surprise, surprise — and will include a brand-new customizable superhero designed specifically for the game. The studio will show off a gameplay...

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Panasonic’s wearable gaming speaker will literally blow your mind, if I’m seeing this image right

Panasonic knows that gamers want to be blown away. But maybe not quite this literally?

That looks a little painful. So does this:

I’m not sure I’d want a dragon breathing fire directly into my ear?

But what do you expect from a product called the SoundSlayer? It had better slay or my money back.

And because gamers like acronyms, you should know that the SoundSlayer WIGSS (Wearable Immersive Gaming Speaker System) will come with True MAGESS (Majestic Augmented Gaming Environment Sound System) when it arrives this October for $199.99. Wigs and mages? Not quite, because Panasonic snuck in that extra “S”!

“feel enveloped by sound in all directions”

Panasonic promises its four full-range speakers will create a...

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Microsoft wants Chrome OS users running Office web apps, not Android apps

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

Starting September 18th, Microsoft will end support for the Office and Outlook Android apps on Chrome OS and start pushing Chromebook users to its web apps instead, according to a statement it gave About Chromebooks. As recently as July 31st, Microsoft’s support documents recommended installing the Android versions of Office, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive, but now those documents say that the apps are unsupported for Chrome OS users.

As About Chromebooks’ Kevin Tofel points out, though, the move to web apps makes the offline situation for Office users more complicated. While certain Office web apps, like Outlook, have a dedicated offline mode, Tofel reports not being able to open existing documents using Microsoft’s progressive web app...

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Amazon’s New World MMO is getting an open beta on September 9th

Amazon Games’New World. | Image: Amazon

Amazon’s upcoming PC MMO, New World, is getting an open beta ahead of its September 28th release date, Amazon Games announced at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live on Wednesday. The open beta will take place from September 9th to September 12th.

The public beta will give players a chance to try out the game before its official launch just a few weeks later on September 28th, even if it’s only for a few days. In addition to the open beta, Amazon Games also revealed a new trailer for the upcoming MMO showing off more of the supernatural world of New World.

New World’s open beta follows a well-received closed beta and should give more people a chance to try out the game before it officially launches. The game, like others from AmazonGames, has...

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Horizon Forbidden West delayed to February 18th, 2022

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, has officially been delayed until February 18th, 2022, according to a PlayStation blog post and Guerrilla Games. The game was expected to release near the end of 2021, but it was clear that time frame was more of a target than a fixed date — the game’s page on PlayStation.com had its release date listed as “to be confirmed,” and PlayStation Studio head Hermen Hulst said during an interview that the developers thought they were “on track” for a holiday 2021 release, but couldn’t be sure. He also said that part of the uncertainty was due to developers’ access to motion-capture equipment and actors during the pandemic.

Sony’s PlayStation Studios, which Forbidden West’s developer...

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Horizon Zero Dawn’s newest update unlocks 60fps on PS5

A screenshot from_Horizon Zero Dawn._ | Image: Sony

Sony has released a new update for Horizon Zero Dawn enabling 60fps on PS5. The game was previously locked to 30fps on Sony’s newest console, so this update should help the game feel that much smoother. A Verge colleague has confirmed that the update, 1.53, is available to download and install now.

Horizon Zero Dawn is the latest game to get a 60fps boost on the PS5 — Sony has slowly been adding higher frame rates for some of its biggest PS4 hits since the PS5 was released. The Last of Us Part II got one in May, God of War got one in February, and Sucker Punch added a 60fps option for Ghost of Tsushima that was available when the PS5 launched in November.

Sony also announced that its sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West,...

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Microsoft announces $549 Halo-themed Xbox Series X console

Microsoft’s first custom Halo-branded Xbox Series X console will arrive on November 15th. The $549.99 console includes dark metallic paneling, gold accents, and a star pattern to match the Halo universe. It even powers on and off with custom Halo-themed sounds, and Microsoft has changed the top fan section of the Xbox Series X from a green color to blue.

The console bundle will also include a custom Halo-branded controller that matches the console, and Microsoft says this will be a very limited edition that will be available for preorder from Microsoft’s site today.

Microsoft’s Halo-themed Xbox Series X console.

This is the first custom Xbox Series X console, but Microsoft has previously launched many custom Xbox...

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Persona 5’s Morgana is coming to Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Morgana can’t catch a break | Sega

In an effort to build up excitement for Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania that’s releasing on October 5th, 2021, Sega has been plucking characters from its roster of games, past and present. Not only will Yakuza’sKazuma Kiryu serve as an unlockable character, Morgana from Persona 5 will appear as post-launch content on November 2nd, except it’ll cost $4.99.

Morgana plays a pivotal role in Persona 5, serving as the gutsy feline sidekick to the protagonist and your rag-tag team of Phantom Thieves. In Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, Morgana will collect chests instead of bananas. Sadly, there’s no mention of Persona-themed stages or music mentioned in the press release.

Sega is really wringing out its IP to include characters that’ll appeal...

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Midnight Suns is a new Marvel tactics RPG from XCOM studio Firaxis

Marvel’s Midnight Sunsis a newly revealed tactical RPG from Firaxis Games that was just announced at Gamescom’s opening night event.

The game is said to take place in the “darker side of the Marvel Universe,” and it will have players take on the role of a new hero, The Hunter (which Firaxis created with Marvel). In Midnight Suns, you’ll team up with classic heroes like Iron Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Blade, Captain America, and Captain Marvel as part of the Midnight Suns superhero team to battle a supernatural foe: Lilith.

There’s not much information on the actual gameplay yet — although, given Firaxis’ work on the rebooted XCOM series and the fact that Midnight Suns will be a tactical RPG, it seems like players...

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Saints Row is getting a reboot that’ll be out in February 2022

A screenshot from_Saints Row._ | Image: Volition

As teased by Geoff Keighley last week, Saints Row is the next video game series to get a reboot. Developer Volition has announced that the newest title, which is just called Saints Row, is scheduled to be released on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and PC on February 25th, 2022.

Saints Row titles are renowned for their over-the-top open-world gameplay that feels more inspired by cartoons than Grand Theft Auto. Originally a rip-off of GTA, the franchise quickly grew into a consistently funny spoof of franchises, including — oddly enough — _Mass Effect_and Michael Bay’s Armageddon. This reboot looks to eject some of the more indulgent references but maintain the core gameplay that prioritized fun over silly things like “reality.”...

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Theater owners are already taking a victory lap in the fight for where movies screen

A year of chaotic movie releases made the future of theaters look uncertain. But as cinemas reopen, hybrid releases that studios so warmly embraced amid COVID-19 are now having to answer in earnest to theater owners and talent attached to high-stakes films.

During this week’s CinemaCon, the National Association of Theatre Owners’ annual convention, prominent figures from the film and exhibition industry rebuked the simultaneous release models and insisted that theaters and exclusive windows will survive after being pummeled during the pandemic. Speaking during this week’s event in Las Vegas, NATO boss John Fithian said that exclusive theatrical release windows “remain vital to the survival and success of the theatrical experience,”...

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Airbnb says it will temporarily house 20,000 Afghan refugees

Image: Emma Hardy, Airbnb

Airbnb and Airbnb.org announced on Tuesday that they will temporarily house 20,000 Afghan refugees for free. The effort, an evolution of the home renting platform’s “Frontline stays” program for housing first responders, is in response to the refugee crisis caused by the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

“It has become abundantly clear that the displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees here in the United States and elsewhere is a significant humanitarian crisis – and in the face of this need, our community is ready to once again step up,” the company wrote in its announcement. This is of course dependent on Airbnb’s existing hosts agreeing to help out. In a tweet thread announcing...

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Most US government agencies are using facial recognition

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 19 of the 24 US government agencies surveyed are using facial recognition in some way, illustrating how commonplace the controversial technology has become within the federal government. The list of agencies includes agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that maintain in-house systems, alongside smaller agencies that use the system to control access to high-security locations.

“As the use of FRT continues to expand,” the report explains, “members of Congress, academics, and advocacy organizations have highlighted the importance of developing a comprehensive understanding of how it is used by federal agencies.”

A previous...

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The best laptop you can buy in 2021

Image: William Joel/The Verge

The best laptops for you, from ultraportables to high-powered editing machines

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Kanye West’s new Donda Stem Player will apparently let you ‘customize any song’

Kanye West revealed a new music gadget called the Donda Stem Player that will let you “customize any song,” according to the device’s website. It’s available for preorder now for $200 with a vague “summer” release date, though the website says it will ship “with Donda,” West’s upcoming album.

Let’s get some of the gadget-y stuff out of the way first. The device, which West’s Yeezy Tech brand developed with electronics company Kano, looks like a little tan puck, and it’s apparently made of a “soft silicone blended skin.” It’s equipped with a headphone jack and Bluetooth support (and can do simultaneous Bluetooth and audio jack playback), a USB-C port, volume buttons, speakers, a haptic engine, and 8GB of storage. The four light bars are...

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Rising electricity demand is keeping coal alive

Wind turbines in front of a coal-fired power plant on the outskirts of the new city area of Yumen, Gansu province, China, on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. | Wind turbines in front of a coal-fired power plant on the outskirts of the new city area of Yumen, Gansu province, China, on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

As people ventured out from their pandemic cocoons this year, they gobbled up more electricity than they did before COVID-19 shut the world down. But there still isn’t enough clean energy to meet rising demand, so coal is making a comeback. Global electricity demand climbed 5 percent above pre-pandemic levels in the first six months of 2021, according to an analysis published today by London think tank Ember. Electricity grids turned to more coal to meet that demand, and power sector carbon pollution rose 5 percent compared to the first half of 2019.

“We are building back badly”

“Catapulting emissions in 2021 should send alarm bells across the world. We are not building back better, we are building back badly,” Dave Jones, global program...

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Controversial crypto rules remain in infrastructure bill after House vote

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge

Controversial new cryptocurrency tax requirements are likely to become law through the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The cryptocurrency community rallied to fix the language, but the House voted to proceed with the bill as is on Tuesday, moving forward without any new amendments or opportunities to change it.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and a group of moderate Democrats reached a deal to approve a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, schedule floor action on the bipartisan infrastructure deal by September 27th, and advance voting rights legislation. The agreement comes after a group of moderate Democrats pledged to vote down the multitrillion-dollar social safety net package if it was approved before the bipartisan...

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The PS5 and Xbox Series X are available from Walmart

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Walmart is offering gamers a chance to get a PS5 and Xbox Series X today, Wednesday, August 25th, at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. That’s when the first wave of consoles will be made available, but the retailer has been known to release a few consecutive waves every ten minutes (12:10PM, 12:20PM, etc.) As always, try to sign in before things get started and enter your address and payment info to make the checkout process as speedy as possible. You may have better luck getting a console if you load up the site, and simultaneously have the page open within Walmart’s mobile app.

If you’re searching for the Sony PS5, Walmart has the $499.99 version that has a Blu-ray disc drive for game discs and movies, as well as the $399.99 digital version that lacks...

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Netflix’s ‘Tudum’ fan event will bring trailers, interviews, and announcements for its originals on September 25th

Netflix is hosting its own online fan event for the first time on September 25h. The event is called “Tudum” (as in the onomatopoeia of Netflix’s iconic logo sound), and promises an “exciting day full of exclusives and first looks,” for some of its most popular series and movies.

The three-hour event (which starts at 12PM ET) will include “breaking news and ... first looks, new trailers and exclusive clips during interactive panels and conversations with the creators and stars from Netflix,” and feature over 70 shows and movies on Netflix, including Stranger Things, Bridgerton,The Witcher, Cowboy Bebop, Red Notice,The Old Guard,and_The Umbrella Academy._

Additionally, Netflix will be hosting three pre-show events before the main...

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How to remove (but not delete) unneeded Google contacts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

My friend (and occasional writer for The Verge) JR Raphael has a newsletter in which he recently wrote about cleaning up your Google Contacts list by deleting old and no-longer-wanted entries.

What a good idea, I thought. But.

Unfortunately, I am something of a hoarder when it comes to contacts. After years as a tech journalist, I have who-knows-how-many business contact listings, many of which are completely out of date. But although it’s likely that a lot of these people have moved to different companies and different email addresses, I feel I should keep the entries — what if I come across them at some point and want to check where I knew them from? Or what if they still work there even though it’s been several years and I want to...

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Several Best Buy stores will have Nvidia RTX 30-series GPUs available tomorrow

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Nvidia’s RTX 30-series graphics cards are next to impossible to find in stock, but Best Buy is offering PC gamers an opportunity to buy one on Thursday, August 26th. Select store locations will have stock, and if you find your local store on this page by using the drop-down options, it’ll be among the locations getting some GPUs for Thursday’s restock.

You can’t just show up at any time of the day and pick one up. In order to be eligible to buy one, you’ll need to arrive at your store before 7:30AM local time and queue up. That’s the time when Best Buy employees will give one ticket to each person in line until there are no more tickets. If you get a ticket, Best Buy says it guarantees that you can purchase one graphics card, so be...

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