Twitter will let Twitter Blue subscribers try some new features early

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter regularly testsnewfeatures ahead of their official rollout, but the company is creating a new way for some people to check out new features before everyone else. On Wednesday, Twitter announced that subscribers to its paid Twitter Blue service will get early access to some new features under a new Labs banner. If you’re familiar with YouTube’s Labs features for Premium subscribers, it sounds like a similar model.

Features in Twitter’s program include pinned conversations on iOS, which lets you pin DM conversations to the top of the list, and the ability to post longer video uploads from a desktop computer. You can read more about Labs in a thread from the Twitter Blue account.

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Mark Zuckerberg on why Facebook is rebranding to Meta

Illustration by Samar Haddad

The company wants to move past the ‘confusion and awkwardness’ of sharing a name with its main app

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Teenage Engineering’s new PC case is gorgeous, expensive... and bendable

Teenage Engineering

Teenage Engineering, a design company that dabbles in everything from synthesizers to helping build the Playdate gaming handheld, has made its first computer case. It’s called Computer-1. It’s a bold orange case that’s made for mini-ITX-sized motherboards, which are reserved for small form factor builds. Like most of the company’s products, it’s not exactly affordable at $195. But that might not be an obstacle if you’re a sucker for a case that’s dripping in color and unique style.

The Computer-1 case is made with powder-coated aluminum and has chrome handles, which makes it look a bit like Apple’s most recent Mac Pro desktop chassis. Though, unlike that computer, this case comes unassembled. It arrives in a flat pack, like most Ikea...

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Facebook’s new name is Meta

Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s new name will be “Meta.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday at the company’s Connect event that the company’s new name will be Meta. “We are a company that builds technology to connect,” Zuckerberg said. “Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”

“To reflect who we are and what we hope to build,” he added. He said the name Facebook doesn’t fully encompass everything the company does now, and is still closely linked to one product. “But over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company.”

Zuckerberg owns the Twitter handle @meta (whose tweets are protected as of this writing) and meta.com, which now redirects to a welcome page on Facebook that outlines the...

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Microsoft starts rolling out Windows 11 to more PCs

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 to more PCs this week. After an initial launch to mostly new PCs earlier this month, Microsoft is gradually making the free Windows 11 upgrade available to more existing and eligible devices.

“The availability of Windows 11 has been increased and we are leveraging our latest generation machine learning model to offer the upgrade to an expanded set of eligible devices,” says Microsoft. “We will continue to train our machine learning model throughout the phased rollout to deliver a smooth upgrade experience.”

The Windows 11 upgrade prompt in Windows Update.

If you’ve been waiting for the Windows 11 upgrade to appear in Windows Update, you might find the above prompt this week....

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Wyze’s cameras can now be a monitored home security system

Wyze is bringing more AI-powered smarts to its security cameras. | Image: Wyze

Smart home company Wyze continues its tradition of making every small to medium-sized home appliance under the sun, announcing a slew of new products this week in honor of its fourth birthday.

The most notable are a new smart wall switch, an interesting take on outdoor lighting, and revamped white smart bulbs that can match the sun throughout the day. But what really caught my eye is a new capability coming to its cameras. Using AI, Wyze’s smart security cameras will have the ability to alert a professional monitoring service when they detect a person. That’s one simple and cheap home security system.

Wyze is known for its inexpensive smart home products, but what makes the company stand out is that it doesn’t skimp on the smarts to get...

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Facebook teases ‘Project Cambria’ high-end VR / AR headset

A screenshot of the Project Cambria device

Facebook is planning a high-end virtual and augmented reality headset codenamed “Project Cambria.” The device, which was teased briefly during Facebook’s Connect keynote, features cameras that pass high-resolution full-color video to the headset’s screens. It’s supposed to include cutting-edge features that Facebook can’t yet include in the Oculus Quest lineup, but there’s no price or exact release date yet — although Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it’s a “completely new” product that will sit at the “high end of the price spectrum,” and we’ll apparently see the device released next year.

The device is focused on mixed reality applications and will include face and eye tracking, something Zuckerberg discussed earlier this year. It’s...

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NASA’s Juno spacecraft finds just how deep Jupiter’s Great Red Spot goes

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot | Image: NASA

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is revealing the massive structure of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot, a gargantuan storm that’s been raging on the gas giant for centuries. By passing over the circular storm a couple times, Juno helped scientists confirm that the spot doesn’t just exist on the upper surface but extends hundreds of miles into the planet itself.

We’ve long known just how great the Great Red Spot is. The storm’s diameter is about 10,000 miles, or more than 16,000 kilometers, wide, meaning that our planet Earth could fit completely inside the wild tempest. But scientists never fully understood how deep the Great Red Spot was. Was it just a surface-level event, or did it reach deep into Jupiter?

Now, thanks to two science instruments...

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Twitter Spaces hosts can now record conversations and share them in tweets

New Twitter Spaces recording option. | Image: Twitter

Twitter is now allowing hosts of Twitter Spaces chats to record and share their broadcasts. The feature is starting to roll out to a limited number of Twitter Spaces hosts on iOS and should be available to all hosts “within a few weeks.” The feature lets hosts record a Twitter Spaces conversation and share the recording in a tweet.

The new functionality also means that anyone who was late to a Twitter Spaces broadcast will now be able to replay the broadcast once it’s finished if a host has enabled recording. That means tweets that are typically shared to promote Twitter Spaces broadcasts will now include a link to a recording, rather than a note that the Spaces broadcast has ended.

Participants will be notified with a new icon that a...

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is coming to Oculus Quest 2

Behold, one of many strange screenshots you may see at Facebook Connect 2021. | Facebook

During Facebook Connect 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is in development for the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset. No other details, like price, release date, or even a brief snippet of the game running, were shown during the event. There’s a blog post up at Oculus’ site that confirms that the game is coming. It says, “This is a project many years in the making, and we can’t wait to show you more of it.”

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, along with GTA III and Vice City are being remastered, and that collection is releasing on November 11th for several platforms. The company didn’t share if the VR version of San Andreas is based on the remastered assets or the classic PS2 assets (hopefully the...

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Active Pack accessories prepare your Oculus Quest 2 for sweaty VR workouts

Image: Facebook

Facebook has announced the Active Pack, a set of fitness-focused accessories for the Oculus Quest 2 that are designed to help turn the VR headset into a piece of gym equipment.

Included in the Active Pack are a set of grips designed to keep the Touch controllers from flying out of your hands when you’re, for example, doing a boxing workout in Supernatural. There’s also an easy-to-clean face pad, so you don’t have to gunk up your normal foam one if you use your Quest 2 for both exercise and entertainment.

The Active Pack will ship “next year,” according to Facebook. While Facebook is clearly making it for those who have been turning to VR for their workouts during the pandemic, it’s also easy to imagine this could be popular with...

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Mercedes-Benz cars are getting Dolby Atmos in 2022

Daimler AG

Mercedes-Benz is the latest car company looking to bolster its audio systems with Dolby Atmos. The luxury vehicle company is planning to add support for the 3D sound standard through its optional Burmester stereo add-on for high-end models starting in summer 2022.

Mercedes-Benz isn’t the first car company to offer Atmos; that honor goes to the Lucid Air electric sedan, which just started shipping and is the first car to support Dolby Atmos thanks to its 21 speaker “Surreal Sound” system.

The cheapest S-Class with Atmos will start at $117,580

But Mercedes-Benz’s implementation of Atmos looks to go even further, with a whopping 31 speakers scattered around the car (a list that includes six 3D speakers above passengers, four “near-ear”...

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Oculus users are getting a new metaverse home

Facebook is announcing a new, “more social” home space for Oculus users. Called Horizon Home, it looks a lot like the virtual home that people already have in their virtual reality headsets. But users will be able to invite friends to hang out and watch videos or start multiplayer games together, and they’ll eventually be able to customize their space, although that’s “a little further out.” Horizon Home will launch in an Oculus update soon.

Home joins Horizon Worlds and Horizon Workrooms — as well as events app Horizon Venues, previously known as Venues — as part of Facebook’s “metaverse” hub. A video shows users getting pop-up messages inside VR games, as well as on their phones outside VR, then popping into the same virtual space. In...

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Slack and Dropbox are coming to Oculus Quest

Facebook Reality Labs

Facebook is adding 2D apps from third-party developers to its Oculus Quest virtual reality platform. The new feature is aimed at giving people more tools to work in VR using the Progressive Web App (PWA) framework. It’s starting with Facebook, Instagram, collaboration app Smartsheet, and email client Spike, then adding Dropbox, Monday.com, Mural, My5, Pluto TV, and Slack in the future.

Oculus has supported a 2D browser (which opens as a flat window in virtual space) for some time, and you could sideload 2D apps on the Quest, which runs a version of Android. Some Oculus apps also blur the line between VR and 2D apps: Horizon Workrooms, for instance, will support Zoom calls in the future. Facebook Messenger launched on Quest earlier this...

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Facebook is adding a mixed reality platform to Oculus Quest

At this year’s Facebook Connect, the platform revealed something called the Presence Platform, a new way for developers to create mixed reality experiences for the Oculus Quest virtual reality headset. It includes a suite of AI tools for developers that makes the mixed reality experience more immersive, helping to combine the virtual world with physical reality.

The system includes three main tool sets: Insight SDK, Interaction SDK, and Voice SDK. Insight, which builds on the the Passthrough API that launched this summer, lets developers overlay virtual objects on the Oculus Quest’s passthrough video feed. Facebook is also adding a system called Spatial Anchors that will let developers “lock” a virtual object to a specific physical area...

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Apex Legends: Escape takes the battle royale shooter on vacation at the perfect time

Image: EA

In the years since Respawn and EA launched Apex Legends, the shooter has carved out its place among a crowded field of contenders. Other games have tried to enter the market and failed to make much impact alongside the other battle royale titans like Call of Duty: Warzone, PUBG, and Fortnite. Still, despite a healthy player base and competitive scene, a new update, dubbed Escape, arrives following one of the roughest seasons since the debut, and it might be exactly what the game needs.

Last season’s new character, Seer, drew criticism from many players until Respawn nerfed his special abilities. Then that change led to its own controversy, as players accused the developers of intentionally releasing heroes with overpowered abilities to...

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Google Fi is getting end-to-end encrypted phone calls

A lock icon will appear in the Phone app when a call is end-to-end encrypted. | Image: Google

In the coming weeks, Google is rolling out end-to-end encrypted phone calls on its Google Fi MVNO, the search giant announced today. When enabled, the feature means that no one, not even Google, can listen in on the contents of a call. Although it’s possible to have end-to-end encrypted audio calls through services like FaceTime and WhatsApp, Google Fi’s new feature makes it the default for regular phone calls.

The feature is a little limited in its current form. Google’s end-to-end encryption will only kick in for calls between two Android phones, where both users are Google Fi subscribers. So, for now, at least, iPhone Google Fi subscribers won’t benefit. Google says you’ll know when a call is end-to-end encrypted because it’ll play a...

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Metroid Dread’s new demo lets you try one of the best games of the year for free

Nintendo is now offering a free demo of Metroid Dread, meaning you can try one of the best games of the year at no cost before plunking down the cash to buy the full game. You can grab the demo from Nintendo’s website (click the “Download Demo” link) or on the eShop on your Switch.

If you’re on the fence about Metroid Dread, I really recommend you download the demo to give the game a shot. If you’ve played a 2D Metroid, you’ll probably feel right at home, as Dread is an excellent evolution of action and exploration the games are known for. But the game mixes up the formula a bit with tense chase sequences where you’re fleeing from powerful robots called E.M.M.I. The boss fights are also quite good, though there are a few too many of...

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How to buy the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro

You can now buy Google’s newest Pixels, pending availability. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Google’s new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have been announced, reviewed, and are now up for order. These Pixels promise new designs, new cameras, a uniquely designed Google Tensor CPU, and more.

This year’s Pixel phones come in two sizes: the standard Pixel 6 and the larger, triple-camera equipped Pixel 6 Pro. The base Pixel 6, with 128GB of storage, starts at $599, while the Pixel 6 Pro runs $899 and up if you prefer to go above the base 128GB.

What’s new

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro look mostly nothing like prior iterations, with a metal-and-glass design highlighted by a rear camera bar that is slightly reminiscent of the classic Nexus 6P. The smaller Pixel 6, which cannot truly be considered small by any stretch of the imagination, has a...

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Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro review: finally, more than just good cameras

The new Pixels are the best phones Google has ever made

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Sony now uses PlayStation PC label for its PC games

Sony’s PlayStation games on Steam are now published by PlayStation PC LLC instead of PlayStation Mobile. Forum posters at Resetera noticed the change yesterday, and it appears the PlayStation PC company was formed earlier this year. It could mean we’ll see Sony use more PlayStation PC branding in the future.

Sony has been gradually growing its presence on PC over the past year, after Horizon Zero Dawn arrived on Steam in August 2020, followed by Days Gone in February. Sony is also bringing _God of War_to PC on January 14th and the remastered Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection at some point in 2022.

Days Gone is now published by PlayStation PC.

Sony’s head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, revealed in June...

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Comcast will bring Apple TV to X1 boxes and the new XClass smart TVs

Brendan Hunt, Cristo Fernández and Jason Sudeikis in “Ted Lasso” | Image: Apple

Comcast’s X1 platform has slowly added apps to its library over the years, and this morning on the company’s earnings call, CEO Brian Roberts announced that the Apple TV app would join the roster soon, while Comcast’s Xfinity Stream app will launch on Apple TV devices.

Comcast’s tech platform, which already has apps for Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and Disney+ in the US, isn’t just on its cable boxes anymore. It underpins the Xfinity Flex streaming platform, the XiOne streaming set-top box, and new XClass 4K TVs that recently launched from Hisense.

Image: Comcast

XClass 4K TV

Two models of the TV are available, in 43- and 50-inch sizes, for $298 and $348, respectively. Like other smart TVs in their price range —...

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Making this album with AI ‘felt like wandering in an enormous labyrinth’

‘Shadow Planet’ was made by Robin Sloan and Jesse Solomon Clark, aka The Cotton Modules, using OpenAI’s Jukebox AI music model.

The scare is over and the fun can begin. That’s how I tend to think of creative endeavors involving artificial intelligence these days. We’ve moved past, I think, hyperbolic claims about AI making human art redundant and can now enjoy all the possibilities this technology affords. In that light, Shadow Planet — a new album made as a three-way collaboration between two humans and AI — shows exactly what sort fun can be had.

Shadow Planet is the creation of writer Robin Sloan, musician Jesse Solomon Clark, and Jukebox, a machine learning music program made by OpenAI. After an off-the-cuff Instagram conversation between Sloan and Clark about starting a band (named The Cotton Modules), the two began exchanging tapes of music. A seasoned...

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The OLED Switch’s new kickstand was made for Mario Party

One of the core promises of the Nintendo Switch — the ability to easily play multiplayer games on the go — has long been undone by a flimsy piece of plastic. While the original Switch model technically made it possible to whip out the tablet for some impromptu Mario Kart, the terrible kickstand made this impractical at best and dangerous (for your Switch’s screen) at worst. The latest iteration of the hardware finally fixes that — along with the showcase feature, a much-improved OLED screen — and makes the dream of spontaneous Mario Party tournaments a reality, at last.

This week Nintendo is releasing Mario Party Superstars, a sort of greatest hits collection for the digital board game series. It includes boards from the early Nintendo...

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Facebook isn’t telling the whole story about its mental health research

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The company is attempting to minimize its own research

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Activision Blizzard ends forced arbitration as CEO takes a massive pay cut

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent a letter updating employees on the further steps he and the company will take to change its image in the wake of multiple sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits. Most notably, Kotick says that Activision Blizzard will employ a zero-tolerance harassment policy, waive arbitration in sexual harassment and discrimination claims, and the billion-dollar-net-worth CEO will take a massive pay cut — earning only $62,500 per year in total compensation until the board of directors feels certain diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are met. (Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard shareholders approved a $155 million pay package for Kotick.)

The letter outlined other goals for the company, including...

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Ford delays launch of its ‘hands-free’ BlueCruise driver assist feature until 2022

Image: Ford

BlueCruise, the “hands-free” driver assist feature that Ford sees as a viable competitor to GM’s Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot, won’t reach car owners until the first quarter of 2022, the company’s executives said Wednesday night. The automaker had originally planned on pushing an over-the-air (OTA) software update activating BlueCruise for select Ford customers before the end of 2021.

In an earnings call with investors, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company’s engineers needed a little more time to make the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) easier to use for customers.

“We wanted to improve the customer experience,” Farley said. “So we pushed it back in terms of an OTA because we want it to be much simpler for the customer...

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Rad Power Bikes overtakes VanMoof to become the ‘most funded’ e-bike company

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Rad Power Bikes announced that it had raised $154 million from investors as it seeks to grow its e-bike empire in the US and abroad. The company now claims it is the “most funded electric bike company in the world,” a little more than a month after Amsterdam-based VanMoof made the same claim.

For over a year, Rad Power Bikes and VanMoof have been in a neck-and-neck race to raise enough investment cash to help capitalize on the bike boom while also smoothing out the rough edges of their direct-to-consumer business models. Last month, VanMoof announced that it had raised $182 million over two years, with almost 200,000 bikes on the road currently and a five-year goal of getting 10 million people on VanMoof e-bikes.

Now, Rad Power Bikes is...

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Hands-on: Nvidia’s GeForce Now just leapfrogged Google Stadia

Cloud gaming may have finally arrived — for some

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Save hundreds on one of the best TVs for gaming today

You can save up to $700 on LG’s brilliant C1 OLED today at multiple retailers. | LG

You can save up to $700 on one of the best TVs for gaming today, the LG C1. Right now, BuyDig’s digital storefront on eBay is selling the 55-inch model for $1,297 instead of $1,500, while adding $120 of eBay credit and a four-year extended warranty. Meanwhile, Costco and Amazon have the 65-inch versions for $1,800 and $1,797, respectively, though you’ll need to be a Costco member to take advantage of its discount. If you are a Costco member, however, the OLED TV comes with an Allstate Protection Plan — an extended three-year warranty for your TV — and a $100 streaming credit toward Google Play, Paramount Plus, Showtime, or several other services.

No matter which C1 model you buy, however, all sport several features gamers in particular...

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