Apple’s healthcare division leaned on misleading data, report alleges

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple employees raising concerns that misleading data was used to support new health products were dismissed or met with hostility, _Insider_reported. In addition, a lack of structure within the health group, along with other organizational problems, is slowing and frustrating the company’s ambitions to push into healthcare, current and former Apple employees told Insider.

Some concerns focused on clinics Apple set up to both provide healthcare to employees and develop ways to integrate data collected from Apple devices into care. One doctor involved with the project, Will Poe, said in a resignation letter to CEO Tim Cook that he was concerned that members of the team were giving misleading and too-rosy information to Chief Operating...

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Google’s latest Nest Doorbell and camera are not obvious upgrades

Battery-powered options are great, but prepare to make compromises

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Apple shares memorial to Steve Jobs on 10th anniversary of his death

Image: Apple

Apple is commemorating its co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs’ death with a new short film and a personal statement from the visionary tech executive’s family. Jobs passed away 10 years ago on October 5th, 2011, after a difficult battle with pancreatic cancer.

The short film — which has currently taken over Apple’s landing page — commemorates Jobs’ life in photos, videos, and some of his most iconic quotes, from “the computer is a bicycle for the mind” to the introductions of the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone.

Apple also published a statement from Jobs’ family, shared below:

For a decade now, mourning and healing have gone together. Our gratitude has become as great as our loss.

Each of us has found his or her own path to...

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All Facebook Gaming creators can co-stream now

Illustration by Alex Castro

Facebook is adding co-streaming to Facebook Gaming, a useful feature the Twitch competitor has lacked since it launched in 2018. Additionally, while Twitch’s version of a co-streaming feature — “Squad Stream” — requires you to be a Twitch Partner, Facebook is making co-streaming available to everyone.

“With co-streaming, we aim to increase discoverability for creators, encourage collaboration between creators and elevate the overall viewing experience,” Facebook explains. In short, streaming the same game alongside someone else is mutually beneficial. Actually starting a stream involves tagging up to three other creators during stream setup or after you’re live. If the other creators tag you back, then your audience is launched into a...

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Taylor Swift fans are getting caught up in the Virginia gubernatorial race

Photo by ACMA2020/Getty Images for ACM

Weeks before Virginia’s gubernatorial election, the campaign for Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is reaching out to an unexpected constituency: Taylor Swift fans.

On Tuesday, the McAulliffe campaign launched a series of Facebook, Instagram, and Google search ads highlighting his opponent Glenn Youngkin’s role in the controversial purchase of Taylor Swift’s master recordings in 2019. The buyout of Swift’s masters has been a point of bitter contention for the singer and her fans and could be an unexpected liability in the upcoming race.

Last year, Youngkin — the Republican nominee for Virginia governor — retired as co-CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group before launching his 2021 gubernatorial bid. At Carlyle, Youngkin...

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I want to taste an AI-designed flavor

Scentronix

When I cook, I typically just Google a recipe or try one out on the fly. But in the future, it’s possible artificial intelligence might help me concoct a meal or assist a chef as they write their next cookbook or design a menu. In today’s_Vergecast_ AI episode, we explore the world of AI product design — how far could AI go in helping humans design smells and tastes? For that discussion, we chat with Frederik Duerinck, the founder of ScentTronix, which is part software, part hardware and attempts to make customizable perfumes based on individual people. We also talk to Michael Spranger, COO at Sony AI, about how Sony is helping chefs design recipes and maximize flavor.

Finally, we take it a step further and ask whether it’s even possible...

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Google just announced its Pixel 6 event on October 19th

Image: Google

Google traditionally holds an October hardware event to reveal its new Pixel phones. This year, it already announced them — here’s the Pixel 5A and the Pixel 6. But the company clearly hasn’t said everything it wants to say publicly quite yet, because it just announced a virtual event for October 19th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.

Google:

On October 19, we’re officially introducing you to Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro—the completely reimagined Google phones. Powered by Tensor, Google’s first custom mobile chip, they’re fast, smart and secure. And they adapt to you. #Pixel6Launch

And though Google got out ahead of some of the leaks this year with its early Pixel announcements, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro....

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Twitch icon Nickmercs isn’t going anywhere

FaZe Clan

Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff, one of the biggest streamers on Twitch, has signed a deal to continue streaming exclusively on the Amazon-owned streaming platform. The deal locks down one of Twitch’s most important creators for the foreseeable future, and it comes at a particularly important time, since Twitch lost two major streamers to YouTube Gaming in September.

Just to give you an idea of just how big Kolcheff is, the unofficial metrics site TwitchTracker says he has more than 28,000 subscribers, making him one of the most-subscribed streamers on the platform. If he had been convinced to stream on another site, it would have been a big blow for Twitch.

THE SHOW GOES ON! pic.twitter.com/SE93iSIFe0

— FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) October 5,...

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Instagram is getting rid of IGTV, sort of

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Instagram is finally acknowledging that IGTV, its first big push into video, didn’t pan out.

Today, the company is rebranding IGTV as “Instagram TV,” and it’s getting rid of the exclusive IGTV video format. Videos posted to the main Instagram feed can now run up to 60 minutes long — a length previously reserved for IGTV videos — and you’ll no longer have to leave the main app to view them.

A spokesperson for Instagram says the IGTV app, now called the Instagram TV app, will remain as a “destination for people to visit with the intent of watching video.”

Image: Instagram

Feed videos and IGTV videos will be consolidated into Instagram TV, which will get a single tab on profile pages. Reels will remain discrete.

I...

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Several Kingdom Hearts games are coming to Nintendo Switch

The final new fighter coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimatewas revealed as Sora from Kingdom Hearts. But the event, hosted by game director Masahiro Sakurai, culminated in some arguably bigger news. The three mainline Kingdom Hearts games are coming to the Nintendo Switch. This includes _Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue,_and Kingdom Hearts III.

Notably, all three titles will be delivered via cloud streaming instead of native ports, so they won’t be stored locally on your Switch. Nintendo showed the games running on PlayStation 4 during the stream.

Prices and release dates for each of the games weren’t detailed during the stream, but Sakurai stated that the release date will be announced...

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Microsoft’s new Xbox web store integrates Xbox Cloud Gaming and wish lists

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is starting to roll out a new Xbox web store that integrates Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud), wish lists, and more. The new Xbox web store includes buttons to add games to wish lists, quick access to redeem codes, and full Xbox Cloud Gaming integration. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member, you can simply click play on a supported game, and it will instantly stream from the web.

Twitter user tamelucas first spotted the new Xbox web store yesterday, and it only appears to be live in Canada. It’s very different from the usual Microsoft Store listing and has a design that’s similar to the rest of the Xbox UI. You can also use the web store to quickly install games to an Xbox console you own or buy the game as a gift for a...

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Destiny 2 arrives on Xbox Game Pass for PC on October 12th

Destiny 2 is finally arriving on Xbox Game Pass for PC later this month. While the looter shooter has been available on the Xbox console side of Xbox Game Pass for more than a year, PC players have been patiently waiting for it to be included on Xbox Game Pass for PC. Microsoft is now bundlingDestiny 2: Beyond Light on Xbox Game Pass for PC on October 12th.

Destiny 2 developer Bungie made some clear optimizations for the console version of the game on Xbox Series X last year, with support for 4K resolution at 60fps on both the Xbox Series X and PS5. The PC version launching on Xbox Game Pass for PC won’t be any different from what’s already available on Steam, but it will mean cross-play players will see a new Windows logo next to Xbox...

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Lost Judgment is a better sequel with a messy story

The Yakuza series is beloved for its uncanny ability to bounce between absurd humor, deep pathos, and brutal violence and making it seem like the most natural thing in the world. Lost Judgment, the sequel to 2019’s detective-focused spinoff Judgment, marks a rare misstep in that regard. In many ways it’s much improved on its predecessor and spins a more ambitious story — but it can’t quite deliver on its themes.

Lost Judgment picks up after the first game with Takayuki Yagami — played in droll, deadpan fashion by Japanese megastar Takuya Kimura — returning to his work as a private detective. Yagami is hired to investigate an incident of bullying at a high school in Yokohama, but soon enough the case becomes entwined with a groping...

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Everything you need to know from the Facebook whistleblower hearing

Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Congress will hear new concerns about child safety on the world’s largest social network

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Sora is the final Smash Ultimate character

The newest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter has been announced, and it is not Waluigi.

Nintendo, during a livestream event, announced Sora from Kingdom Hearts will join the roster as the 82nd playable character (if we’re not counting the echo fighters).

Sora joins the esteemed company of characters from across celebrated Nintendo titles and beyond, including Jin Kazuya, Sephiroth, a couple of Belmonts, and entirely too many Fire Emblem characters. In advance of the Smash livestream, the internet was alight with speculation as to who the newest character would be. Master Chief from Halo Infinite was an early favorite as was _Dragonball Z’s_Goku.

Waluigi, however, was one of the most popular guesses as fans have been clamoring for his...

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Will these top Steam games support Steam Deck? We ask their developers

Valve’s $400 Steam Deck gaming handheld runs Linux, but it can play Windows games too. Many of them, anyhow! Some of the biggest games on Steam use anti-cheat software that doesn’t play nice with the Proton compatibility layer which lets Windows games work. That’s changing this year, with both Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) and BattlEye confirming to The Verge that support is on the way, and Epic says it takes “just a few clicks.”

But will game developers patch their games to take advantage? Not necessarily! We reached out to every developer of every top EAC and BattlEye game on Steam. While four of them gave us a definite yes, the rest were less committed.

Here’s what they all had to say.

7 Days to Die — No comment

“We have no comment...

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Fortnite’s ‘Fortnitemares’ Halloween event will include a spooky short film festival

Fortnite is hosting its third short film festival as part of its annual “Fortnitemares” Halloween event, but with a seasonal twist: the latest Short Nite show will focus on spooky animated short films, dubbed “Shortnitemares,” because there’s nothing people love more than a good portmanteau.

Shortnitemares follows up on the previous two Short Nite film festivals (held over the summer and in February), although the latest iteration is getting a bit of an upgrade: instead of airing in a nonstop loop on the combat-free Party Royale island, Shortnitemares will get a custom-made movie theater from Quantum Builds (which specializes in creating custom Fortnite maps for brand activations) that will offer individual theaters for each short to...

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Microsoft’s new Surface pen feels like it’s alive

The new Surface Slim Pen 2. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 8 has a gorgeous 120Hz display and updated internals, but it’s really the new Surface Slim Pen 2 that has caught my attention. Microsoft has added haptics features to its stylus for the first time, thanks to a new custom chip inside. It has transformed inking on the Surface Pro 8.

I thought the haptic feedback would be a gimmick until I started testing it this weekend. In the Sketchable Windows app, you can select from a variety of drawing tools, like brushes, pencils, markers, inking nibs, and even chalk. They all feel totally different now, thanks to the haptics in the Surface Slim Pen 2.

Apps like Sketchable support the new Surface pen.

This isn’t the buzzy haptic feedback you’re...

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Google is about to turn on two-factor authentication by default for millions of users

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In May, Google announced plans to enable two-factor authentication (or two-step verification as it’s referring to the setup) by default to enable more security for many accounts. Now it’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Google is once again reminding us of that plan, saying in a blog post that it will enable two-factor for 150 million more accounts by the end of this year.

In 2018, Google said that only 10 percent of its active accounts were using two-factor authentication. It has been pushing, prodding, and encouraging people to enable the setting ever since. Another prong of the effort will require more than 2 million YouTube creators to turn on two-factor authentication to protect their channels from takeover. Google says it has...

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Another one (Gimlet podcast) bites the dust (goes exclusive)

Images provided by Spotify / Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Hello again, welcome to the first week of October. I’m loving the spooky vibes and strong pumpkin energy the fall has wrought, although it was a little steamy here in NYC this past weekend. Summer’s last gasp. But I’m not complaining! I put the heat on in my car for approximately three minutes last week and was sad.

Enough about my SAD, though, and more on audio. In today’s newsletter we discuss the fan reaction to Spotify’s latest exclusive move, along with Patreon looking to make its own original podcasts, and more. Off we go.

Gimlet’sHeavyweightis becoming a Spotify exclusive, and the fans are mad

Heavyweight, one of the longest-running Gimlet Media shows, is becoming a Spotify exclusive next month, five years after it began and...

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Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana on how to get self-driving taxis to the mall

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

It’s harder than it looks

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Russia launches movie actress and producer to space for cosmic film shoot

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (C), along with film director Klim Shipenko (R) and actress Yulia Peresild (L) poses for a photo ahead of the launch of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, on October 05, 2021 in Moscow, Russia. | Photo by Roscosmos Press Service/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Early this morning, a trio of Russians launched to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft, but two ofthese fliers were no ordinary cosmonauts. Included in the crew was a Russian actress named Yulia Peresild and a film producer named Klim Shipenko, who have just docked at the station to film scenes for an upcoming movie. With their arrival, they’re the first multiperson film crew to visit the ISS.

Peresild and Shipenko will stay on the station for just 12 days, filming scenes for a movie called The Challenge. The movie revolves around a Russian doctor, played by Peresild, who must travel to the space station to treat a sick cosmonaut. Producer Shipenko will be working on filming and lighting. The two flew to space along...

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Google Nest’s latest security cameras are now on sale

Google Nest’s first floodlight security camera is available to buy today. | Image: Google Nest

Following its announcement of an all-new Nest Cam lineup this summer, Google has made the last of the four cameras it announced available in its Google Store: The Google Nest Cam wired ($99.99) and the Google Nest Cam with floodlight ($279.99). The cameras join the new Nest Cam battery, an indoor-outdoor camera, and the Nest Doorbell battery that went on sale in August.

The Nest Cam wired is the budget camera in the lineup and is much smaller than the indoor/outdoor Nest Cam, which can be wired or work off its built-in battery. The indoor model dispenses with a built-in battery and isn’t weatherproofed, helping make it cheaper and smaller. It keeps the same 16:9 aspect ratio, with 1080p video at up to 30fps, plus it has a 135-degree...

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Microsoft Surface Pro 8 review: the best of both worlds

This is the best Surface Pro we’ve seen in years

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Save $50 on the V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless headphones at Best Buy

Premium sound at a premium price | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The verge

Our review of the V-Moda Crossfade 2 headphones described them as “the best at nothing, but great at most things.” Right now, you can save $50 on this pair of versatile, premium headphones at Best Buy. The Crossfade 2 feature a noise-isolating design and solid sound quality paired with a classy, comfortable, and durable design. While they can last for up to 15 hours on a single charge, it is a little disappointing to see that these headphones can only be topped off via Micro USB instead of the more modern USB-C. However, anyone on the hunt for a pair of headphones that boast some curb appeal should look no further than the V-Moda Crossfade 2.

Apple’s second-generation AirPods with a wired charging case are just $109 at Amazon and W...

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The whistleblower hearing hits Facebook where the company is weakest

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook’s newest whistleblower is set to testify before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, and her testimony will likely to kick off a damaging new cycle in the years-long effort to regulate the platform. This time, Facebook is dealing with an unusually damaging charge: that the most central parts of its business — its product optimization, its content promotion algorithms, and its drive for advertising profits — are actively hurting its most vulnerable users.

It’s an alarming and specific claim, leveled from within the company and echoed by its most prominent critics. For lawmakers, it represents the best chance in years to take meaningful regulatory action against the world’s largest social network.

On Sunday, Frances Haugen, a former...

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GM envisions electric vehicles with 600 miles of range with new battery research center

General Motors is building a new 300,000-square-foot battery research facility in Michigan to help it realize its mission of building electric vehicle batteries that are longer-lasting, quicker to charge, and more sustainable for the environment. Through this new center, GM is setting the stage for a battery breakthrough that will help it build electric vehicles that can travel as much as 600 miles on a single charge — roughly twice the range of most EVs on the road today.

The new facility will be named the Wallace Battery Innovation Center after Bill Wallace, a battery engineer at GM who died in 2018. The center will be located in Warren, Michigan, near the campus of the automaker’s 710-acre Technical Center in Southeast Michigan. GM...

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Huawei’s Ryzen 5000-equipped MateBook 16 is getting a global release

Huawei’s MateBook 16, a laptop that combines a large 16-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a Ryzen 5000 series processor, is getting a global launch. The laptop was first announced for the Chinese market in May but will shortly be launching globally with prices starting at the equivalent of €1,099 (around $1,274) for the Ryzen 5 model, and €1,199 (around $1,390) for the Ryzen 7 version.

Huawei calls the MateBook 16 its “first high-performance notebook” thanks to it being configurable with AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000 series laptop processors. There’s a choice of either a Ryzen 5800H or a 5600H, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of NVMe storage. Connectivity specs include Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6 support.

Image:...

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Watch HBO’s teaser trailer for Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon

HBO has released a teaser trailer containing the first real footage of House of the Dragon, its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series. The show was announced two years ago and is based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, a book that centers around the history of the Targaryen family and is set two centuries before the events of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, which Game of Thrones was based on.

The House of the Dragon trailer doesn’t reveal much about the show’s plot beats, but does demonstrate its impressive cast: actors including Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Sonoya Mizuno, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, and Olivia Cooke are all on board. As you’d expect, there appears to be a lot of sword fighting and references to dragons.

T...

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Snapchat launches Run for Office portal to encourage users toward political campaigns

Snapchat has introduced tools to help users run for office | Snap

Snapchat is launching a new tool aimed at guiding its young user base to consider running for political office. The company says it wants to help potential future candidates deal with common barriers to launching political campaigns by providing information, resources, and encouragement.

The Run for Office Mini — a set of miniature applications that run within Snapchat — will let Snapchat users explore issues they care about and find information about political offices in their ZIP code. They’ll be able to connect to candidate recruitment organizations, including Run for Something,New Politics,Run GenZ, and theLGBTQ Victory Institute, which can provide training and resources to prepare for a campaign.

The tool has a portal based on...

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