New published patents show Dyson designs for stair-climbing and drawer-opening robots

A patent filing from Dyson showing a robot that can climb and clean stairs | UK Intellectual Property Office

Premium vacuum company Dyson has patented designs for robots that look like they could climb and clean stairs, and open drawers, new filings show. It’s not clear whether the designs are for forthcoming products or ideas that are on hold, but Bloomberg reports that Dyson’s robotic unit has been working on a robot to interact with other home appliances. Whether it’s the robot hand or the stair-climbing robot, or another product entirely also isn’t clear at this point.

The patents published in the UK on September 1st show the two designs; a “robotic device with tri-star wheels and actuated arm” that would be able to climb steps and clean them (a stair-climbing vacuum sounds like an excellent idea), and a “robot hand” which is shown in...

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Sony to offer free Horizon Forbidden West PS4 to PS5 upgrade after criticism

Image: Sony

Sony is now planning to offer a free Horizon Forbidden West upgrade from PS4 to PS5. The U-turn follows widespread criticism after the company announced there would be no upgrade path for _Horizon Forbidden West_PS4 players, despite an original promise of a free upgrade to the PS5 version.

“It’s abundantly clear that the offerings we confirmed in our pre-order kickoff missed the mark,” admits Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. “While the pandemic’s profound impact pushed Forbidden West out of the launch window we initially envisioned, we will stand by our offer: Players who purchase Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free.”

Sony had originally...

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Horizon Forbidden West was supposed to have a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5

Image: Sony

On Thursday, Sony announced that its Horizon Forbidden West game, sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, would be available for pre-order ahead of its February 2022 release date. But contrary to what Sony said last year (h/t Forbes), there’s no upgrade path for the game from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5.

In a September 2020 blog post, Sony said _Horizon Forbidden West_would be among the games to have a free upgrade from PS4 versions to the PS5 version:

“Additionally, we know that the PS4 community will transition to PS5 at different times, and we’re happy to announce PS4 versions of some of our exclusives. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy A Big Adventure, and Horizon Forbidden West will also launch on PS4. While these three games were...

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Home Depot says its smart home app is for people who find the smart home space ‘intimidating’

Scan a QR code on a compatible product to add to Home Depot’s Hubspace | Home Depot

Home Depot has launched a smart home app meant to be an all-in-one for smart appliances and accessories the big box store sells, but it’s debatable why anyone would need it when Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa already exist.

Called Hubspace, the free app is available in Android and iOS app stores, and “enables light bulbs, smart plugs and ceiling fans to be controlled from anywhere,” according to a press release from Home Depot. It’s compatible with Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices, and works with a short list of products that Home Depot sells, from its proprietary brands such as Hampton Bay and EcoSmart. “There’s no need for a hub or extra equipment, and the platform already works with more than 20 products,” the press release...

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Facebook says its AI mislabeling a video of Black men as “primates” was “unacceptable”

Facebook is apologizing for applying a “primates” label to a video of Black men | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook is apologizing for an incident where its AI mislabeled a video of Black men with a “primates” label, calling it an “unacceptable error” that it was examining to prevent it from happening again. As reported by theNew York Times, users who watched a June 27th video posted by the UK tabloid Daily Mail received an auto-prompt asking whether they wanted to “keep seeing videos about Primates.”

Facebook disabled the entire topic recommendation feature as soon as it realized what was happening, a spokesperson said in an email to The Verge on Saturday.

“This was clearly an unacceptable error,” the spokesperson said. The company is investigating the cause to prevent the behavior from happening again, the spokesperson added. “As we have...

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Watch PlayerUnknown describe Prologue, a post-PUBG project all his own

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, more commonly known as PUBG (or Game for Peace in China) is already one of the most successful and influential games ever made just four years after release. Its former director Brendan Greene, a former DJ and web designer from Ireland, is credited with launching the entire battle royale genre, directly inspiring what you now know as Fortnite, CoD: Warzone, _Apex Legends_and more.

But this past week, he announced that he’d left the Korean company whose work on his battle royale vision propelled him to fame to build a studio all his own — and late Thursday, he revealed what to expect from his next project.

pic.twitter.com/dipZpUSeNY

— PLAYERUNKNOWN (@PLAYERUNKNOWN) September 3, 2021

It’s called...

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Lyft and Uber to cover legal fees of drivers sued under Texas anti-abortion law

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Lyft and Uber are committing to pay legal fees for any driver on their respective platforms who get sued under Texas’ controversial anti-abortion law.

The new law, which was signed this week by Texas governor Greg Abbott, bans abortions of fetuses after six weeks (which is before many women even know they are pregnant) and offers no exceptions for rape or incest. The law also empowers private citizens across the country to sue anyone for “aiding and abetting” abortions past the six-week mark, including clinics, anyone who pays for the abortion, or even people who drive someone to the procedure.

the law allows people to sue those “aiding and abetting” abortions past six weeks

“This is an attack on women’s access to healthcare and on...

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Nintendo is reportedly set to bring Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to Switch Online

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Nintendo may be finally ready to bring its storied handheld gaming library to the Nintendo Switch — Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles will soon join the 100-plus NES and SNES games that it offers via its Switch Online subscription service, according to rumors from the “Nate the Hate” podcast, corroborated by Nintendo Life on Tuesday and now again on Friday by Eurogamer. It’s not every day we see a Nintendo rumor that strong.

There’s no word on which titles might arrive, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect your favorites to be among them, particularly to start. Nintendo has curated its NES and SNES libraries for Switch very slowly, some of them are pretty deep cuts, and many titles like Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG are...

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GoDaddy is cutting off Texas Right to Life’s abortion ‘whistleblowing’ website

Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

In case you haven’t heard, Texas now has a law that makes it illegal for anyone to help women get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy — and to take advantage of that, the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life is encouraging citizens to report those people at a dedicated “whistleblower” website, promising to “ensure that these lawbreakers are held accountable for their actions.”

However, it now looks like Texas Right to Life may have trouble keeping a home on the web, because hosting provider GoDaddy has given the group 24 hours to find a different place to park its website. “We have informed prolifewhistleblower.com they have 24 hours to move to another provider for violating our terms of service,” a spokesperson told The New...

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AI computers can’t patent their own inventions — yet — a US judge rules

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge

Should an artificially intelligent machine be able to patent its own inventions? For a US federal judge, the larger implications of that question were irrelevant. In April 2020, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ruled that only “natural persons” could be credited as the inventor of a patent, and a US court decided Thursday that yes, that’s what the law technically says (via Bloomberg).

Not every country agrees with that direction. South Africa and Australia decided to go the other direction, granting one patent and reinstating a second patent application filed by AI researcher Steven Thaler, whose AI system DABUS reportedly came up with a flashing light and a new type of food container. Thaler is the one who sued the US in this...

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New study will show misinformation on Facebook gets way more engagement than news

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge

A new peer-reviewed study from researchers at New York University and the Université Grenoble Alpes in France will show that misinformation got six times as much engagement on Facebook as real news, _The Washington Post_reports.

The study looked at posts from the Facebook pages of more than 2,500 news publishers between August 2020 and January 2021. Researchers found that the pages that post more misinformation regularly got more likes, shares, and comments. This increased engagement was seen across the political spectrum, but the study found that “publishers on the right have a much higher propensity to share misleading information than publishers in other political categories,” according to The Washington Post.

The researchers will...

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BMW’s new CE 02 mini-bike concept is electric

Images: BMW Motorrad

BMW’s Motorrad division has been pumping out some wildconcepts over the last few years as the larger company turns its attention towards electric vehicles. It’s latest is also the to date, but still looks extremely cool: the CE 02 mini-bike.

Debuted this week ahead of the IAA Mobility conference in Germany, the CE 02 is a tiny two-wheeler that borrows some of the futuristic vibes BMW has been honing for its larger concept bikes — including the CE 04, which is actually going into production. Clad in silver and black and “technoid typography,” the minimalist design looks like it came right off the set of a sci-fi movie.

The CE 02 has an 11kW belt-drive motor, which can help the bike reach a top speed of around 90 kilometers per hour...

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The best webcam to buy right now

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Some standout options for multiple budgets

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Feds to close unit that monitored Americans’ social media for Census disinformation

A rogue Commerce Dept. unit will be shut down, the agency said | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The US Commerce Department said Friday that it will eliminate an internal security division after an investigation found it had overstepped its authority when it launched criminal investigations into Commerce employees and US citizens. The Investigations and Threat Management Service division had no “adequate legal authority” to conduct criminal investigations, according to an internal investigation by the Commerce Department’s Office of General Counsel.

The investigators recommended that the ITMS unit be eliminated within 90 days, and that its security duties be folded into other Commerce divisions. The Commerce Department said in a statement it would accept the report’s recommendations.

“Our most important priority is creating an...

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The Apple Watch Series 6 is $140 off at Amazon today

The LTE-ready Apple Watch Series 6 is available at Amazon for its lowest price to date. | Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The Apple Watch Series 7 may arrive as soon as this month, but if you’re looking for a sizable discount on what is currently the latest model, you’ll love today’s deal. The red 40mm, cellular Apple Watch Series 6 is filled with slick features and is on sale at Amazon today for $359 instead of $499, an all-time low for this particular model.

Apple’s newest wearable boasts built-in sleep tracking and an always-on display, as well as sensors that can quickly measure blood oxygen levels. There is also an abundance of third-party apps designed to attract a variety of activities — even biking. The Series 6 is powered by Apple’s new in-house A13 chip and S6 processor; it also charges faster than other models — gaining a full charge takes about...

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Christopher Lloyd plays Rick Sanchez in new Rick and Morty promo

Image: Adult Swim

A brief new promo for Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty features Christopher Lloyd playing the titular Rick Sanchez, scratching an itch that has persisted for many fans since the show’s genesis as a Back to the Future spoof.

In the 14-second clip, we see Lloyd hop out of a portal and into his garage alongside Jaeden Martell (Knives Out, It), playing a pretty convincing Morty. Lloyd then does his best riff on Han Solo’s famous line from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with a signature Rick Sanchez belch added for good measure: “Morty, we’re home.”

C-132 #rickandmortypic.twitter.com/oq54C9C5TW

— adult swim (@adultswim) September 3, 2021

Aside from an “aw, jeez” from Martell, that’s it. There’s no explicit mention of whether this is an...

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Karl Poyzer on his creative journey, finding joy in 3D, and creating a Vimeo staff pick

Image by Karl Poyzer

How a director of photography learned to create without physical limits

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You can now migrate your WhatsApp chats from an iPhone to a new Samsung phone

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

WhatsApp has added the ability for users to migrate their chat history when switching from iOS to Samsung Android devices, the company said in a blog post. Samsung announced the feature was coming during its August Unpacked event, and addresses one of the more frustrating features — or lack of— of WhatsApp on mobile devices. Previously, if users selected WhatsApp’s cloud backup feature, then iOS chat histories were stored in iCloud, while Android’s histories backed up to Google Drive, making it almost impossible to transfer chats between phones that weren’t running the same operating system.

Image: WhatsApp

There are a few caveats WhatsApp outlines in its blog post:

If you’re moving from an iPhone to a Samsung...

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Floods, fires, and extreme heat: disaster pile-ups are the new norm

Damage in the city of Pointe-Aux-Chenes, near montegut, Louisiana on August 30, 2021 after Hurricane Ida made landfall.  | Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images

The forecast for the future is a deluge of disasters

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Firefly’s Alpha rocket detonated by Space Force during first launch

Small launch company Firefly’s Alpha rocket exploded mid-flight Thursday night, minutes after a clean liftoff during its first attempt to reach space. The rocket was terminated, Space Force officials said, as it began tipping sideways off course just after reaching supersonic speeds. Firefly said it’s working with regulators to investigate the cause of the failure.

Alpha, a two-stage rocket standing ten stories tall, lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California at 9:59PM ET on Thursday, aiming to send a payload of tiny private satellites to space at no charge to the owners. The launch was risky — it was Firefly’s first ever mission, so a failure wasn’t a big surprise. Two and a half minutes after liftoff, the rocket fell...

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Vergecast: the changes coming to Apple’s App Store policies

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where we discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

This week on The Vergecast, Verge executive editor Dieter Bohn chats with managing editor Alex Cranz, and news editor Chaim Gartenberg to explain the changing Apple App Store policies for iPhone app developers.

Among the changes: Apple will now let developers of “reader” apps directly link their customers to their own sign-up website, where they could potentially bypass the 30 percent cut from Apple. The crew discuss what this and the other proposed changes means for Apple’s relationship with users and app developers.

Second half of the show, the topic moves to...

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Fortnite’s alien invasion culminates with another season-ending live event

Ever since Fortnite’s current season debuted in June, there has been the promise of a massive conflict with a group of aliens. Now developer Epic is finally teasing that big event in the form of “Operation: Sky Fire.” The live event will be taking place on September 12th at 4PM ET, and Epic says that players will “join a strike team and sneak aboard the Mothership to deliver IO’s final message to the invading aliens.” It will also be a one-time only thing: if you miss it, you’ll have to catch up on YouTube. As always, Epic is recommending players log in early to get a spot.

The kinds of live events have long been a highlight of the Fortnite experience, dating back to the original rocket launch in 2018. Since then players have witnessed e...

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Apple delays controversial child protection features after privacy outcry

Apple delays controversial child protection features | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple is delaying its child protection features announced last month, including a controversial feature that would scan users’ photos for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), following intense criticism that the changes could diminish user privacy. The changes had been scheduled to roll out later this year.

“Last month we announced plans for features intended to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material,” Apple said in a statement to The Verge. “Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others, we have decided to take additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing...

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How Android 12 lets you customize your phone’s color palette

Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

One of the new features in Android 12 is the ability to automatically fit your phone’s color palette to that of your wallpaper. If you’ve been able to upgrade to Android 12, you may want to give it a try, especially if you’re into styling and colors.

I tried it out on a Pixel 3 using Android 12 beta, and the results were interesting. When I used the sample wallpapers supplied by Google and enabled the “themed icons” feature (which is supposed to let your icons match the style of your wallpaper), I was treated to a new background color which appeared on the search field at the bottom of the screen, the Quick Tiles (the buttons you get when you swipe down from the top), and other elements.

I was not all that impressed by the “themed...

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Shang-Chi could suffer because Marvel can’t push pause on its big story

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an important film for Marvel for lots of reasons. It’s the studio’s first return to theatrical exclusive release after over a year and a half of delays due to COVID-19 (which included shifting Black Widow to Disney Plus as well as theaters). It’s the studio’s first film with an Asian lead, a long-awaited milestone that took over a decade for the company to actually accomplish. And it marks the “real” start of its Phase 4 films, advancing the future of the MCU with fresh stories post-Endgame.

But Shang-Chi — and its less-than-ideal release timing, coming as theaters are seeing smaller turnouts as the delta variant continues to spike in the US — also highlights the MCU’s biggest problem: its...

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Eight things Apple could do to prove it actually cares about App Store users

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Like hire more than 500 people to police an entire platform

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Philips Hue smart LED bulbs now have more competition from Philips Smart LED bulbs

Like Philips Hue, the new Philips Smart LED bulbs support millions of colors. | Image: Signify

Signify, owner of the Philips Hue brand, today announced the global launch of its Philips Smart LED bulbs. The new lineup originates from Signify’s 2019 acquisition of Wiz, and carries the “Wiz Connected” logo on its blue packaging to differentiate it from Hue products. A similar collection of bulbs launched in the US at Home Depot stores at this time last year, only under a slightly tweaked “Philips WiFi LED” name.

Signify assured The Verge during a press briefing that they’ve tested the multitude of Philips smart LED brands with consumers and they weren’t confused. That’s good, because Zigbee-based Philips Hue smart LED bulbs and Wi-Fi-based Philips Smart LED bulbs are not compatible.

Image: Signify

Some of the...

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Nightslink is an uncanny slice of retro-game horror

Noiseminded

In 1982, Giallo master Dario Argento directed a slasher film called Tenebrae, or “darkness.” _Tenebrae_unfolds like many other Italian horror movies of the period, but in the years after, Argento told interviewers that it actually took place in a near-future where the human race has been depopulated by an unspoken tragedy. It’s a weird and arguably irrelevant addition to the film’s concrete plot — but one that recasts it as part of something bigger and stranger.

I remembered this bit of trivia after finishing Nightslink, an enigmatic little game that was released in late August. Nightslink is about the nocturnal life of an anonymous man referred to as a “nightslink,” which might be a job title, a social role, or an epithet. The...

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Loot is a viral social network that looks like nothing you’ve ever seen

Image: @supergremplin

Vine creator Dom Hofmann’s new project, explained

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Apple’s rumored AR/VR headset might rely on a nearby iPhone or Mac for processing

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple’s rumored AR/VR headset is designed to rely on another device, and may have to offload more processor-heavy tasks to a connected iPhone or Mac, according to a report from The Information. Apple is reportedly working on a custom chip for the headset, an SoC that’s intentionally missing capabilities found in Apple’s other processors.

While the new chip reportedly doesn’t have Apple’s neural engine, which handles AI and machine learning, it’s reportedly designed to be better at wirelessly sending and receiving data, and compressing/decompressing video than traditional chips, which makes sense if the headset is designed to stream data from another device rather than doing the heavy processing itself.

A stripped-down SoC for augmented...

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