TimTheTatman, one of Twitch’s biggest streamers, moves to YouTube Gaming

Photo by Michael Bezjian/Getty Images for Gamers’ Choice Awards

Tim “TimTheTatMan” Betar, one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, is leaving to stream exclusively on YouTube Gaming. His move comes just days after another big streamer, Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, announced that he’d be switching from Twitch to YouTube as well. Betar’s first stream will take place on September 2nd.

In moving from Twitch, Betar is leaving behind the 7 million followers he’s accrued on the Amazon-owned platform. But he won’t be starting from scratch on YouTube, where he already has 3.8 million subscribers.

the futurehttps://t.co/Hz9YZ0m2EApic.twitter.com/ekGwDreHOL

— timthetatman (@timthetatman) September 1, 2021

Speaking to Insider, Betar said the move will let him spend more time with his family. “When I started, I...

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New Orleans needs a better backup plan for blackouts

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 30: The downtown skyline is shown after Hurricane Ida passed through on August 30, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. | Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A new gas plant still isn’t enough to solve the city’s power problems

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I completely buy the conspiracy theory that Roy Kent from Ted Lasso is CGI

You want me to believe this is flesh and blood? Absolutely not, but they did a great job with the fabric effects. | Image: Apple

I’ll confess this upfront: I’ve yet to watch an episode of _Ted Lasso._But I absolutely buy the conspiracy theory that one of the show’s main characters, Roy Kent, is a CGI creation.

People on Reddit have apparently been talking about this for months, but after their discussion was shared on Twitter this week, the theory about the Apple TV Plus show has gone mainstream. I read some of the threads, googled some screenshots of Kent himself (or itself), and I have to agree: the man looks like he stepped straight out of FIFA 21.

no more ted lasso discourse it's time for "brett goldstein is cgi" discourse pic.twitter.com/DkSlFAlNp7

— guy (@guymrdth) August 28, 2021

DOES THIS MAN LOOK REAL TO YOU ☮️ ☮️⚛️ pic.twitter.com/RlKrqosqOC

—...

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League of Legends is getting a virtual interactive heavy metal concert

Yet another big game is jumping into the world of virtual concerts. League of Legends creator Riot is partnering with “virtual entertainment” company Wave for an upcoming event centered on the game’s in-universe heavy metal band Pentakill. The concert is set to take place on September 8th at 1:30PM PT / 4:30PM ET, and it’s tied to the band’s upcoming album release. You can watch it right here.

From the sound of it, the Pentakill show will be a bit more involved than other virtual concerts. It’s described as “an interactive journey through the full concept album,” which will release after the show. (Riot has been teasing Pentakill’s third album over the past little while.) Wave says that viewers will be able to “influence the performance...

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HBO Max now has a dedicated app on Vizio SmartCast TVs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

HBO Max is now available on Vizio SmartCast TVs, meaning users will no longer have to use casting workarounds to access the streaming service.

Prior to today’s announcement, Vizio TVs lacked a native app within SmartCast, Vizio’s smart TV interface. Instead, they’d have to cast its content to their televisions using Apple AirPlay or by casting with Google. The addition of the app directly from the apps menu should make accessing HBO Max far more intuitive for SmartCast users.

To mark the launch of the app on its sets, Vizio will also introduce a custom homescreen carousel to showcase HBO Max’s new teaser freebies. HBO Max no longer offers free trials, though it recently announced a limited sampling of the pilot episodes of more than a...

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CD Projekt Red is targeting late-2021 release dates for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3’s next-gen upgrades

Image: CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red announced that the free next-gen upgrades for Cyberpunk 2077_and_The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, meant for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, have target release dates for late 2021 (PDF). The company has been promising that the updates were on their way, but now we have a somewhat more specific window for when they might arrive — and it’s still within this calendar year.

For Cyberpunk 2077, the upgrade is a big opportunity to bring players back after its December 2020 launch, which was something of a fiasco. Releasing a free update to the game that takes advantage of the next-gen consoles’ power could be a way to get players to jump back into it. From Cyberpunk 2077’s launch, PS5 and Xbox Series players have been able to play the game...

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Google’s custom Chromebook CPUs could come as soon as 2023

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

Google’s custom chips could expand past the Pixel 6 to Chromebook laptops and tablets as early as 2023, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia on the company’s expanding emphasis on designing its own processors.

The company is already preparing to release its first major custom chip this fall, with the Pixel 6’s upcoming Tensor SoC. The report also lines up with rumors from 2020 that Google was planning in-house Chromebook chips after it debuted the concept on Pixel phones — something we now know is happening in a few weeks.

But the Nikkei Asia report does note a few additional details, including the aforementioned 2023 timing; a confirmation that, like the Tensor chip, the Chromebook CPUs will be based on Arm; and that Google is...

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Microsoft announces Surface event for September 22nd

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft is holding a special Surface hardware event on September 22nd. The software maker has started sending media invites for this fall hardware event, although it will be online-only and not in person. We’re expecting to see Microsoft announce a successor to the Surface Duo and a new Surface laptop.

Leaked images of Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Duo 2 device appeared online in July, and we’re expecting to see the official announcement of this Android-powered dual-screen hardware on September 22nd. The leaked images suggest the biggest change will be a triple camera system, complete with telephoto, ultrawide angle, and standard lenses. The Surface Duo 2 is also rumored to include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor, 5G support, and an...

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Logitech’s Bolt USB dongle bolsters encryption for its new wireless mice and keyboards

Logitech is known mostly for its consumer-facing products, but it’s making a big play to appeal more broadly to businesses that take privacy seriously. It’s launching a range of mice and keyboards that will include a new Logi Bolt USB-A dongle that aims to reduce latency in crowded workplaces and greatly boost security.

These accessories can securely connect to computers and mobile devices via Bluetooth Low Energy — no dongle necessary. Though the Bolt USB dongle is also based on Bluetooth, it will enable a far more secure tether (security mode 1, level 4). Opting for Bluetooth should make the Bolt far less prone to hacking than Logitech’s Unifying 2.4GHz receiver, which was vulnerable to the “MouseJack” hack.

In Logitech’s white paper...

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NASA is testing electric air taxis with Joby Aviation

NASA kicked off test flights of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — colloquially referred to as “flying cars” — with Joby Aviation, the Northern California company that recently went public. The test flights are part of a national campaign by NASA to observe these experimental aircraft in action and determine whether they are safe for passengers.

Joby, which was founded in 2009, is the first eVTOL company to participate in NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign. The test flights commenced Monday, August 30th, at the company’s airfield in Big Sur, California, and will run through September 10th, the agency said.

But NASA won’t just be a passive observer as Joby’s six-rotor aircraft whiz through the...

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Apple says Arizona and Georgia will be first to add state IDs to iPhones

Image: Apple

Apple has announced the first US states that will support iOS 15’s new ability to store driver’s licenses and state IDs in the Wallet app. Arizona and Georgia will lead the way, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah following after that. No timetable is given for exactly when the new feature will be adopted by these states, however: Apple only says that consumers can expect “more information at a later date.” And the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has again confirmed it will open select airport checkpoints and security lanes to Apple’s mobile IDs once states begin making them available.

Adding a state ID or driver’s license to Apple’s Wallet app works similarly to the way you currently add a credit...

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Dems push for federal probe of alleged ad collusion between Google and Facebook

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Four Democratic members of Congress are calling for an investigation into whether an alleged secret 2018 agreement between Google and Facebook concerning digital advertising violated federal antitrust law. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY) wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Acting US Attorney General Nicholas Ganjei of Texas asking them to determine whether federal charges might be warranted.

“If the reports are accurate, the behavior appears to be a clear violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act), which criminalizes “mak[ing] any contract” “in restraint of trade or commerce,” the letter states.

“The behavior...

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No Man’s Sky free update adds alien settlements for you to discover and rule

No Man’s Sky’s latest update is adding alien settlements for you to discover as you explore its procedurally-generated universe. The appropriately titled “Frontiers” expansion was first teased last month, and represents the game’s seventeenth major update since its launch five years ago. It’s available to download today, free of charge, like the rest of No Man’s Sky’s updates.

A brief trailer released by developer Hello Games gives an idea of what players can expect from these settlements, which come complete with aliens wandering their streets. Players will be able to become the Overseer of a settlement, and build it up from a small collection of buildings into a larger town. Once you’re in control, citizens will ask for help with their...

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How Android 12 lets you control your phone with facial gestures

A new accessibility feature that is being introduced with Android 12 allows you to control your screen using facial gestures: raise eyebrows, smile, open mouth, look up, look left, look right. This feature, called “Camera switches,” uses the phone’s camera to watch for these gestures and allows them to signal simple screen operations. These operations include: go to the next actionable screen object, select an object, go to the previous object, touch and hold, scroll forward, and scroll backward; you can also pause the camera switch itself.

It’s not a long list: it only includes six facial gestures and not all that many actions. However, it’s a beginning, and it could be useful if you can’t use your hands to work your phone’s screen.

If...

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1Password subscriptions are 50 percent off for Verge readers today

Many of us would agree that online protection is more vital than ever before, but trying to remember a random string of letters and symbols for every site you frequent — or don’t — isn’t always easy. Password managers like 1Password are a great way to store your login credentials and beef up your security, however, one that can also save you plenty of time.

Thankfully, _Verge_readers can save 50 percent on their first year of 1Password for a limited time, whether they opt for an individual plan or a family subscription. The individual plan normally runs $2.99 a month and comes out to be around $36 per year, yet our exclusive discount brings the annual price down to $18. The family plan, meanwhile, will run you $2.50 a month instead of $5,...

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DJI’s next smartphone gimbal might include a telescoping selfie stick

Gimbal, meet selfie stick. | Image: WinFuture

DJI appears to have another smartphone gimbal on the way with a telescoping selfie stick built into its handle, according to WinFuture. The Osmo Mobile 5, which is an apparent successor to last year’s Osmo Mobile 4, is likely to make its first appearance at DJI’s September 8th launch event where it will reportedly earn a European price of €159, which roughly translates to a tax-inclusive price of $188.

The Osmo Mobile 5 reportedly folds down to around 17cm (6.7 inches), but can be extended when you need to get closer to your subject, or further away from yourself. From the pictures, it doesn’t seem to extend quite as much as a traditional selfie stick, but it should be enough to give you a little extra flexibility with your shots. When...

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Telegram uncaps live stream viewers as part of big version 8.0 update

Image: Telegram

Telegram, the messaging app that’s becoming more and more like a fully-fledged social media network, is expanding support for video live streams with its latest update. Version 8.0 of the app, which is available now on both iOS and Android, allows live streams to be watched by an unlimited number of viewers, up from the previous limit of 1,000. Other new features include more options when forwarding messages, and a shortcut to switch between channels.

Increasing the maximum number of viewers like this opens the door to Telegram becoming a full-on mobile live streaming platform, complete with the ability for as many as 30 users to broadcast at once. “The power to run your own TV station is here, right in your pocket,” is how Telegram puts...

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VanMoof raises another $128M to become ‘most funded e-bike company in the world’

VanMoof S3 e-bike in Amsterdam | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

VanMoof just raised another $128 million in funding, after announcing a $40 million investment round in September 2020. That brings Amsterdam-based VanMoof’s total haul to $182 million raised in the last two years, excluding crowdfunding rounds in 2018 and 2019, making it “the most funded e-bike company in the world,” according to VanMoof.

The company claims to have almost 200,000 bikes on the road currently, with the goal of getting 10 million people on VanMoof e-bikes in the next five years. Such aggressive expansion goals require significant capital.

Improve the quality and reliability of the bike

VanMoof’s new funding round has been earmarked to expand production and to “reinvent the way in which hardware and software components are...

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Microsoft is kicking unsupported PCs out of Windows 11 testing

Windows 11 is launching on October 5th. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is starting to drop PCs from its Windows Insider testing program that are ineligible to upgrade to Windows 11. If you’ve been helping Microsoft test Windows 11 on a machine that doesn’t meet the minimum hardware requirements, you’ll likely see a message in Windows Update warning that you’ll need to reinstall Windows 10.

“Your PC does not meet the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11,” says Microsoft’s warning. “Your device is not eligible to join the Windows Insider Program on Windows 11. Please install Windows 10 to participate in the Windows Insider Program in the Release Preview Channel.”

Windows 11 testers in both the Dev and Beta channels have started receiving the message on incompatible PCs this week, just as...

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Midrange Samsung Galaxy S21 FE appears again in leaked manual

A render of the unannounced phone from the leaked manual. | Image: Samsung (via SamMobile)

A user manual for Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE (aka “Fan Edition”) has been published online by SamMobile, giving us another look at the unannounced midrange counterpart to the company’s Galaxy S21 flagship. As you’d expect from a manual, the document spends more time outlining how to use the phone than it does describing its specs, but it’s a guide for what’s to come.

For starters, images included in the manual appear to confirm that previously leaked renders are accurate. That means we’re looking at a similar design to the Galaxy S21, albeit seemingly with a less premium finish. Three cameras are shown on the S21 FE’s rear while on the front there’s an in-display fingerprint scanner and a hole-punch notch for a selfie camera.

...

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Internet shutdowns by governments have ‘proliferated at a truly alarming pace’

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

The number of government-led internet shutdowns has exploded over the last decade as states seek to stifle dissent and protest by limiting citizens’ access to the web.

Nearly 850 intentional shutdowns have been recorded over the past 10 years by nonprofit Access Now’s Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP), and although the group acknowledges that data on incidents before 2016 is “patchy,” some 768 of these shutdowns took place in the last five years. There were 213 shutdowns in 2019 alone, with this figure ticking down to 155 in 2020 as the world adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic (which delayed elections and led to lockdowns that kept populations at home more often). And already in the first five months of 2021 there have been 50...

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Philips Hue adds a whole bunch of new lights, including a ‘light tube’

The Hue light tube beneath a TV. | Image: Signify

The Philips Hue line of smart bulbs is growing today with the addition of a bunch of new lights, strips, and lamps. There’s a bunch of stuff, so here’s a quick rundown:

• New filament bulbs that can change color temperature (plus a new candle shape for filament bulbs)
• Brighter options (75 watt and 100 watt equivalent) for color-temperature changing and full color versions of the standard Hue bulbs
• A “light tube” for illuminating around your TV (it’s meant to sync the colors to what’s on screen)
• Enhanced versions of the Signe floor and table lamps that can display multiple colors at once
• An upgraded TV-focused lightstrip, the “Hue ambiance gradient lightstrip,” which can likewise display multiple colors at the same time
• A new ceiling light...

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Philips Hue partners with Spotify to turn all your lights into a music visualizer

Image: Signify

If you’ve got a home full of Hue lights, there’s an easy new way to set the mood for your next party. Signify, which makes the Philips Hue line, is partnering with Spotify so that your lightbulbs can automatically sync up with whatever music you have playing, changing color and flashing along to the beat.

There are already plenty of ways to sync your lights to music — including Signify’s own Hue Sync app — but those methods typically require letting an app or some external hardware listen in on everything you’re playing. This new partnership avoids that by letting the Hue Bridge tap directly into Spotify to see what’s playing once you’ve linked your accounts.

A Hue Bridge and color bulbs are required

That close partnership is also...

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Ivermectin misinformation has poisoned Amazon’s platform, with few fixes planned

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Earlier this week, I started a search on Amazon and mistyped, entering just two letters in: “iv.” Amazon then helpfully compiled a list of suggested search results, almost all of which were for the horse de-worming version of the drug ivermectin. That drug is at the center of one of the more recent and more mind-boggling parts of the anti-vaccine misinformation story, a false cure touted by hucksters and others out to make a quick buck.

This evening, Amazon spokesperson Craig Andrews tells The Verge that “Amazon’s autocomplete responses are driven by customer activity. We are blocking certain autocomplete responses to address these concerns.”

Like Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit, Amazon has not gotten a lid on limiting the spread of...

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Amazon’s new ‘adaptive volume’ will make Alexa speak louder when it’s noisy

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon is working to solve a frustration with smart home speakers by introducing a feature called Adaptive Volume, which will make Alexa respond louder if it detects that you’re in a noisy environment. According to the company, the mode is meant to make sure that you can still hear Alexa’s responses over any background noise (like the sound of a dishwasher, people talking, or music playing on another device). Amazon says that the feature is currently available to US customers, and that you can activate it by saying “Alexa, turn on adaptive volume.”

Amazon doesn’t mention adaptive volume working in the opposite direction, becoming quieter if there’s no background noise, but there are other ways to reduce the volume dynamically. One of...

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Apple pledges another small but welcome sum to racial justice

Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Apple has pledged another $30 million to racial justice, on top of the $100 million it promised last year in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

It includes funding for a wide array of causes, including a Global Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Equity Innovation Hub at California State University Northridge in Los Angeles, with the intent to create regional hubs at other universities, and an expansion of its work to bring community coding centers to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by adding 11 additional schools to the roster.

Last August, we calculated just how small the donations from Big Tech were compared to their immense profits, and today’s $30 million doesn’t really change the calculus there. At the rate...

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Retailer leak suggests Google’s Pixel 6 will have 23W wireless charging

Image: Google

Google may be working on a new wireless charging stand for its Pixel phones, according to a leaked image of a retail inventory backend mentioning a “Google Pixel 23W WL Stand” published by Android Police. The name suggests the charger could support 23W wireless charging, and if Google does end up releasing this stand, it seems likely that the upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would support 23W charging as well.

Image: Android Police

Android Police’s_image seemingly revealing the existence of a new Pixel Stand._

That wireless charging speed, if accurate, would be more than the iPhone 12’s maximum 15W wireless charging with a MagSafe charger and surpass the 10W wireless charging offered by the original Pixel Stand...

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Someone paid more than $300K for a fake Banksy NFT — and the scammer gave it all back

This image showed up on Banksy’s site, was sold as an NFT, then was taken down. The artist’s team says it’s fake. | Image: Internet Archive

The NFT space continues to be weird and occasionally wonderful, but today’s story is going for some sort of award: a collector paid over $300,000 in Ethereum for an NFT from someone claiming to be Banksy after the image appeared on the famed street artist’s website. Then, Banksy’s spokesperson said that the artist had no involvement with NFTs, and stories came out declaring it a fake. Finally, the NFT’s seller spontaneously refunded the collector, seemingly with no note. Oh, and to really muddy the waters, the collector who bought the NFT goes by the name of Pranksy.

Pranksy told the BBC that he heard about the auction, which was being held on the NFT marketplace OpenSea, from someone in his Discord. (The BBC doesn’t identify Pranksy by...

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The best early Labor Day sales happening now

The Bose Noise Cancelling 700 are one of the many deals available ahead of Labor Day. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

The fast-approaching Labor Day holiday promises to bring plenty of great tech deals on notable favorites, including smart speakers, headphones, TVs, and tablets. While we regret to inform you that it is, sadly, not yet the weekend, there is a wide selection deals already available at retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and B&H Photo, many of which are likely to run through the rest of the week and into the long weekend.

Right now, there are savings to be had on devices like the Bose Noise Cancelling 700 and second-gen Apple Pencil, and we’ll be sure to bring you more as the week unfolds, both on-site and in your inbox via our Verge Deals newsletter. In the meantime, check out these early Labor Day deals on a wide swath of tech goodies.

H...

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Six things we learned about the Dead Space remake

When EA announced it was remaking Dead Space, it wasn’t really clear what “remake” meant. Would the company be completely rebooting the beloved space horror series? Or would it be more like a remaster that upgraded the original’s 13-year-old graphics for the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and modern PCs? Star Wars: Squadrons studio EA Motive offered a little bit more detail in interviews. But it was still hard to gauge what the remake was supposed to accomplish — since compared to remakes of ’90s games like System Shock, where designers are updating limited graphics and unfamiliar control schemes, Dead Space still feels eminently playable today.

Now, the _Dead Space_remake’s developers have helped fill in some of the gaps. Motive held a l...

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