Snap on Anker MagGo accessories for MagSafe wireless charging in your car and home

Anker is introducing MagGo, its lineup of six MagSafe-compatible products for iPhones. | Anker

Bored by the few Apple-certified MagSafe accessories like the MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe wallet (2021), or the MagSafe Duo Charger, and feel stifled by its small ecosystem? If you want to expand your MagSafe-compatible collection, you’ll need to look to third-party accessory makers like Anker for some fresh ideas.

Anker, known for its affordable charging products like portable batteries and universal plugs, is introducing its own suite of MagSafe-compatible gadgets called MagGo that go beyond just wirelessly charging your iPhone 12 or 13. Its opening lineup has six new gadgets that take advantage of the convenience and security of attaching to the phone by magnets — these products are ideal for when you’re on the move and at home.

B...

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Facebook is spending at least $10 billion this year on its metaverse division

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook plans to spend at least $10 billion this year on Facebook Reality Labs, its metaverse division tasked with creating AR and VR hardware, software, and content.

“We are committed to bringing this long-term vision to life and we expect to increase our investments for the next several years,” the company writes in its third-quarter earnings release this afternoon. Facebook sees AR and VR as being core to “the next generation of online social experiences.”

A sign that Reality Labs should be judged separately from Facebook’s core apps

The division, which already makes the Oculus Quest headset and Portal lineup of calling devices, is clearly being positioned as the next big thing inside of Facebook. For one, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has...

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Best Buy and Home Depot drop security cameras linked to Uyghur surveillance

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to TechCrunch, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowes will no longer be selling security cameras from Lorex and Ezviz after the outlet reported on the brands’ parent companies’ involvement in supplying the Chinese government with surveillance tech.

According to the US government, both Dahua (Lorex’s owner) and Hikvision (Ezviz’s owner) stand implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They have reportedly helped supply surveillance equipment for monitoring ethnic minorities. One of the largest oppressed groups is the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group the Chinese government is accused of putting in detention or reeducation camps, using as forced labor, and more.

The home security...

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Faze Clan is going public in $1 billion SPAC deal

Photo: FaZe Clan/Twitter

Faze Clan is on track to become a publicly traded company. The competitive esports group is merging with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp. in a deal that values the combined companies at $1 billion (via Markets Insider). As a part of the deal, Faze Clan estimates it can get up to $291 million to help fund its growth, according to a post on Faze Clan’s website.

For you, the fans.

Our biggest announcement to date: FaZe Clan is going to become a publicly traded company. https://t.co/HaHJtFIglWpic.twitter.com/YNYLpvVIRo

— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) October 25, 2021

Faze Clan is known for its teams that compete in Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and more. With an audience of about 350...

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Tesla keeps ignoring the government’s requests to fix Autopilot

The National Transportation Safety Board is not happy with Tesla’s failure to respond to its safety recommendations made four years ago concerning the company’s controversial driver assist feature, Autopilot.

In 2017, NTSB recommended that Tesla and five other automakers install driver monitoring systems in their vehicles to ensure that drivers stay vigilant even when active safety systems are engaged. The board also implored automakers to limit the use of driver assist features on highways. The recommendations were made in response to an investigation into a crash in which a Tesla owner was killed when his car slammed into a truck that was crossing a highway.

The five other automakers officially responded to the recommendations within...

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Samsung’s new Galaxy Books include 11th Gen Intel chips and 5G

Here’s the Samsung Galaxy Book. | Image: Samsung

Samsung has announced three new additions to its Galaxy Book line: the Galaxy Book, the Galaxy Book Odyssey, and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 5G. While none of the models have features that will knock your socks off, they seem like a natural progression of Samsung’s recent efforts to bring the Galaxy Book line out of the enthusiast space and into the mainstream.

The most accessible offering looks to be the regular 15.6-inch Galaxy Book. This is the only one of the three that’s available now; the other two products hit shelves November 11th. I’m currently seeing a $749.99 model at Best Buy that includes a Core i5-1165G7, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, as well as a Core i7-1165G7/16GB/ 512GB configuration for $999.99. Those seem like...

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macOS Monterey is now available to download

Apple’s new M1-equipped iMac. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The latest version of macOS, Monterey, is now available to download according to Apple. The software has been available in public beta for several months, but today’s release means Apple thinks the software is ready for everyday use.

As is tradition, Apple announced its latest version of macOS at WWDC in June. New features include the ability to set Macs as an AirPlay target to play content from iPhones and iPads, as well as Shortcuts, Apple’s iOS automation software. There have also been improvements made to FaceTime, as well as a new Quick Note feature. For a full rundown of what’s on the way, check out our preview from July, as well as Apple’s own feature list.

Apple’s drag-and-drop demo from WWDC 2021.

Unfortunately, some of...

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This sure looks like Facebook’s rumored Oculus Pro

Oculus.com

Facebook has been teasing work on a pro version of its Oculus Quest headset for quite some time, and now a series of what appear to be setup videos for the unreleased product have leaked from its own servers.

The videos were first spotted on Reddit over the weekend and downloaded from Oculus.com by _The Verge_and embedded below. Theyshow an unreleased, dark-colored headset being used to customize virtual avatars with what looks like full body tracking, new controllers with a charging dock, and more footage of the Horizon Workrooms app for work collaboration in VR.

Executives from Facebook have teased the possibility of a pro version of the Oculus Quest for a while, and on October 28th, the company is hosting its annual Connect...

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Apple releases iOS 15.1 with SharePlay and more iPhone 13 Pro camera options

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge

Apple is releasing iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 today, and the big new feature is SharePlay’s return. SharePlay is a feature that was originally supposed to ship in iOS 15; it lets people call friends or family and watch movies, TV, or listen to music together. SharePlay syncs content so everyone can watch it at the same time.

iOS 15.1 also includes some improvements to the camera options for iPhone 13 Pro models. A new Auto Macro toggle for the ‌iPhone 13 Pro‌ is available, allowing you to switch off the automatic macro mode if you find it annoying. ProRes video capture is also available in iOS 15.1, so you can capture even better quality video on an iPhone 13 Pro at 30fps / 1080p on 128GB models or 4K on 256GB models and above.

Apple is...

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The original iPod ‘prototype’ was an Apple design to prevent leaks

Photo by Panic

It’s hard to believe that the prototype for the original iPod is something that you can’t even fit into your pocket. Panic, a software development group for macOS and iOS, dredged up the prototype for the original iPod — something that Apple probably never wanted to see again — in honor of the iPod’s 20th anniversary (via 9to5Mac).

Photo by Panic

As funny as it would be if Apple was actually trying to make the iPod look like a failed attempt at a pocket-sized DVD player, that’s (sadly) not the case. A tweet from Tony Fadell, the inventor of the iPod, confirms that the prototype was designed to prevent the real iPod design from getting leaked ahead of its launch.

This is a P68/Dulcimer iPod prototype we (very...

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Mastercard will allow banks on its payments network to provide cryptocurrency services

Mastercard will let banks on its payments network integrate cryptocurrencies into their products | Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Mastercard has signed a deal with cryptocurrency firm Bakkt to make crypto options available to merchants and banks across its payments network, the company announced Monday. The news was first reported by CNBC.

Banks on Mastercard’s global payments network will be able to provide cryptocurrency rewards on credit and debit cards, for example, and reward points on purchases like airlines or hotels can be paid out in cryptocurrency. Consumers will be able to convert their crypto holdings to pay for purchases and hold digital assets through custodial wallets on Bakkt’s platform.

Mastercard said earlier this year it would start allowing its cardholders to conduct some transactions on specific cryptocurrencies on its network, and it said in...

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Blue Origin reveals plans for future commercial space station called Orbital Reef

An artistic rendering of Orbital Reef with one of Boeing’s Starliner vehicles visiting. | Image: Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight venture Blue Origin announced plans to build its own free-flying space station today. Called Orbital Reef, the future space station will begin operating in the second half of this decade, according to Blue Origin, providing a place for researchers, industrial and commercial customers, and international partners to visit and work.

Blue Origin is working on the Orbital Reef project in partnership with spaceflight company Sierra Space, a subsidiary of the Sierra Nevada Corporation. Sierra Space’s most well-known project is the Dream Chaser, a winged spaceplane designed to carry cargo — and perhaps people one day — to the International Space Station. Dream Chaser is scheduled to begin cargo flights in 2022. Blue...

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Apple AirPods (third-gen) review: new design, same appeal

The new regular AirPods get a lot right even before the gimmicky spatial audio part

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Eight things we learned from the Facebook Papers

A massive new document release shows chaos and confusion inside the world’s most powerful social network

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Halo Infinite’s infamous Craig gets a glow-up in latest campaign trailer

Halo Infinite’s new campaign trailer showcased all the Banished-beating activities the Master Chief will get up to while exploring the mysterious Zeta Halo ring. Hidden among the updates is a neat little callback to the game’s first infamous trailer, featuring a new face on an old friend.

Craig The Brute is back and he’s had some work done.

Craig became the Halo Infinite meme back when Microsoft debuted an eight-minute demo highlighting Infinite’s campaign and gameplay. Fans picked the demo apart, lambasting it for its seemingly poor-quality graphics that Craig — the name given to the brute enemy looking extremely nonplussed that the Master Chief is trying to bash his face in — came to represent.

In the new trailer, that’s not the Craig...

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Zoom now has auto-generated captions available for free accounts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Zoom is following through on its promise to add auto-generated closed captions to all free Zoom meetings accounts to make its service more accessible, the company announced Monday. The captions are only available in English, but the company says it plans to expand to other languages in the future.

“It’s important to us that everyone can successfully connect, communicate, and participate using Zoom,” said Theresa Larkin, the company’s product marketing manager of meetings & chat. “Without the proper accessibility tools, people with disabilities face tremendous barriers when using video communication solutions.”

Zoom

Zoom has added captions for free accounts

Zoom had previously offered AI-powered live...

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Best Buy stores will soon offer Samsung foldable repairs

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Samsung foldable owners will soon have more options for repairing their devices, with over 100 Best Buy stores gearing up to offer repairs in “early November,” Samsung announced today. The retailer has long offered authorized repairs for Samsung devices, but previously it only listed Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices as those it will repair.

Expanding its repair options to foldables is important given the ongoing concerns people have about durability, especially when it comes to their internal folding displays. And when it comes to foldables, you’ll almost certainly want to turn to a professional for service. The devices are filled with stuff like tape, glue, and goo, that make successful home repairs very difficult to pull off.

F...

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Twitter is working on blockchain-linked Collectibles tab

Illustration by Alex Castro

Twitter is working on a tab that shows off a user’s NFT collection, and it’s beginning to look a lot more complete. The platform first began working on the feature in September — a tweet from Mada Aflak, a software engineer for Twitter, first showed off the early stages of its experiment in late September.

As promised, here is the first experiment. Feedbacks and ideas are welcome :) https://t.co/TDyhibCXfGpic.twitter.com/2ifru9T2Pa

— Mada Aflak (@af_mada) September 29, 2021

The tweet’s video demonstrates how you can connect your crypto wallet from popular providers like Coinbase, Metamask, and Crypto.com and then choose one of your NFTs to use as your profile picture. Your full collection of NFTs will be stored in a tab on your...

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Tesla doesn’t want anyone to see its response to the Autopilot investigation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tesla wants to keep secret its response to the federal investigation into its Autopilot driver assist system. In a memo submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last week, regulators noted that Tesla has requested “confidential business information (CBI) treatment for the entirety of the information request submission.”

If Tesla’s request is granted, it would effectively bar the public from seeing the company’s response to a host of information that NHTSA has requested regarding its probe into Autopilot and possible defects.

If Tesla’s request is granted, it would effectively bar the public from seeing the company’s response

The agency wants to know why Tesla didn’t issue a recall for Autopilot after it...

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The new 14-inch MacBook Pro is already $50 off at Amazon

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

Last week, Apple introduced its new generation of MacBook Pro laptops, featuring a new design (complete with a notched screen) and faster M1 chips. If you had your eye on the 14-inch model instead of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, you can save just a little bit of cash on it when you preorder at Amazon. The configuration that has the M1 Pro chip (eight-core CPU, 14-core GPU), 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD is $1,949.99 instead of $2,000. A $50 discount isn’t a whole lot, but it’s something.

_Verge_editor-in-chief Nilay Patel just posted first impressions of his time with the latest MacBook Pro. It’s not a review (stay tuned for that), but check it out if you want to see some fresh images, along with takeaways from real-world usage of the M1 Pro...

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Halo Infinite’s new campaign trailer has Master Chief chasing Cortana

Microsoft has finally revealed a new look at Halo Infinite’s campaign mode, marking the first time that developer 343 Industries has shown the campaign since its initial gameplay reveal in July 2020.

The new six-minute trailer shows off a lot of Infinite’s new gameplay and systems in a short amount of time, including new weapons, new enemies, menacing bosses, and a new AI companion character that will be accompanying players called “The Weapon.” The overview also shows off some of Infinite’s new open world gameplay and RPG style gameplay additions, which include optional bases and objectives for players to pursue and selectable upgrades for equipment.

Set after 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, Infinite is the first mainline Halo...

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MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max impressions: giving the people what they want

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

New chips, familiar ports, and actual volume buttons — it might be love

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Amazon announces Alexa program for hospitals and senior care

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon has two new programs that integrate Alexa into hospitals and senior living communities, the company announced today. They’re run through Alexa Smart Properties, which allows organizations to control a centralized Alexa system.

“Early on in the pandemic, hospitals and senior living communities reached out to us and asked us to help them set up Alexa and voice in their communities,” Liron Torres, global leader for Alexa Smart Properties, said in an interview with The Verge. Hospitals wanted ways to interact with patients without using protective equipment, and senior living communities wanted to connect residents with family members and staff, she says.

The program lets senior living facilities use Amazon Echo devices to send...

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You can now play Steam PC games on an Xbox with Nvidia’s GeForce Now

Steam games can be streamed from GeForce Now on an Xbox.

Nvidia is unlocking access to its GeForce Now streaming service on Microsoft Edge today, allowing Xbox owners to play Steam PC games on their consoles. GeForce Now includes access to more than 1,000 PC games, and Nvidia has finally started supporting the Edge browser that now ships on Xbox in a beta update to GeForce Now today.

It brings the dream of playing PC games on an Xbox a step closer to reality, as the result is easy access to stream PC games to an Xbox. As the base GeForce Now service is free, you can stream popular PC games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2, and _League of Legends_at 1080p for an hourlong session.

I’ve been able to do this in the past using Parsec, which is essentially a remote desktop app that lets...

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Hertz orders 100,000 Teslas in deal reportedly worth $4.2 billion

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Rental car company Hertz has ordered 100,000 Teslas as part of an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet. A first tranche of Tesla’s Model 3 sedans will be available to rent from Hertz in major US and European markets from early November, said the company in a press statement. The announcement comes just months after Hertz escaped bankruptcy.

News of the purchase was first reported by Bloomberg, which says the deal is the single largest order ever for electric vehicles, and worth $4.2. billion in revenue to Tesla. The automaker’s stock was up 4.3 percent on the news in pre-market trading. It was also reported this morning that Tesla’s Model 3 became the first electric vehicle to top monthly sales charts in Europe this September. Earlier...

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Tesla’s Model 3 is first electric vehicle to top monthly sales charts in Europe

Tesla’s Model 3 has become the first electrical vehicle to top monthly sales of new cars in Europe, beating stalwarts like the Renault Clio and Volkswagen Golf to claim pole position.

Sales data shared by research firm Jato Dynamics and first reported by Bloomberg News shows Tesla with a healthy lead over its rivals, selling 24,591 Model 3s in September compared to the 18,264 sales for the Renault Clio in the number two spot. This also marks the first time that a car made outside of Europe has been a monthly best-seller there.

The sales data suggests that the automotive market is slowly but surely moving away from combustion engines to electric vehicles. This is helped in no small part by various government subsidies to reduce the price...

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This free web tool is a fast and easy way to remove objects from images

Ever needed to quickly edit something or someone out of an image?

Maybe it’s the stranger who wandered into your family photo, or the stand holding up your final artwork for school? Whatever the job, if you don’t have the time or Photoshop skills needed to edit the thing yourself, why not try Cleanup.pictures — a handy web tool that does exactly what it promises in the URL.

Just upload your picture, paint over the thing you want removed with the brush tool, and hey presto: new image. The results aren’t up to the standards of professionals, especially if the picture is particularly busy or complex, but they’re surprisingly good. The tool is also just quite fun to play around with. You can check out some examples in the gallery below:

C...

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The tier list: how Facebook decides which countries need protection

Leaked documents reveal a huge, opaque system

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Inside Facebook’s struggle to keep young people

The world’s largest social network is internally grappling with an existential crisis: an aging user base

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Discord now shares more details of your EA gameplay

A Discord profile showing that a friend is in a game’s lobby. | Image: EA

EA is adding support for Discord’s “Rich Presence” feature to some of its titles, which allows your Discord contacts to see more information about what you’re up to in-game, the game maker has announced. It works by linking your Discord account with the EA App, the new launcher that’s a successor to EA’s Origin.

Previously, Discord would show what EA game you were playing, and for how long. But EA’s Rich Presence integration allows Discord to show off more detailed information like “which game mode you’re in, how long you’ve been playing, and whether or not you’re ready to partner up for something different,” EA says.

It’ll even show if you’re interested in partnering up

Discord’s Rich Presence feature is already supported across other...

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