Federal court blocks Texas law banning ‘viewpoint discrimination’ on social media

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A federal judge has blocked a Texas law that aimed to limit large social platforms’ ability to moderate content on the grounds that it is likely to violate the First Amendment. The order, issued by a federal district court in Austin on Wednesday night, granted an injunction proposed by NetChoice and the CCIA that puts the HB 20 law on hold until the conclusion of the case.

“HB 20’s prohibitions on ‘censorship’ and constraints on how social media platforms disseminate content violate the First Amendment,” determined Judge Robert Pitman in the decision. “Content moderation and curation will benefit users and the public by reducing harmful content and providing a safe, useful service,” Pitman said, explaining why the injunction was...

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Here are the best AirPods deals you can get right now

Apple’s AirPods Pro wireless earbuds are a go-to pick that’s often on sale | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any AirPods deals to be had. In October, Apple finally launched its third generation of AirPods, introducing a new AirPods lineup and dropping the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level AirPods from $159 to $129. Since then, we’ve seen many retailers starting to discount the second-gen AirPods as well as the more expensive AirPods Pro and Max, which offer noise cancellation and better sound quality than the standard model. We’ve even seen some of the first discounts on the latest AirPods, despite how recently they launched.

Here, we’ll run through the best deals available on each model, including the entry-level AirPods, the AirPods Pro, the...

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Apple’s ‘notebook upgrade program’ could get businesses new M1 Macs for $30 per month

Mac notebook upgrade program marketing to apparent business partners | Image: @MaxWinebach

Apple has apparently introduced a business-only program that enables members to obtain and eventually upgrade computers for a relatively low monthly fee. A tweet from writer Max Weinbach shows an image of Apple’s “New Mac Notebook Upgrade Program” promotional material that popped up for a customer with access to a business portal (via MacRumors).

The credit application makes clear this is all about the Apple M1 refresh

The deal appears to be in partnership with CIT Group_,_a bank for business customers where this landing page for the program shares the monthly rates for different MacBook models — starting with the 13-inch MacBook Air for $30, 13-inch MacBook Pro for $39, 14-inch MacBook Pro for $60, and 16-inch MacBook Pro for $75. Apple...

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Ubiquiti hack may have been an inside job, federal charges suggest

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An indictment from the Department of Justice suggests that the Ubiquiti hack reported in January, and subsequent whistleblower claims of a cover-up, were the work of someone who was then an employee of the company. The DOJ alleges that Nickolas Sharp, 36, was arrested on Wednesday on accusations that he used his employee credentials to download confidential data and sent anonymous demands to the company he worked for pretending to be a hacker in an attempt to get a ransom of 50 Bitcoin. You can read the full indictment below.

The indictment doesn’t specifically name Ubiquiti, only referring to a “Company-1.” However, all the details line up. In January, Ubiquiti sent an email to users saying an unauthorized party had accessed its...

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Shopify has a ‘textbook pirate’ problem, publishers allege

Five major publishers have sued Shopify over pirated learning materials like PDFs of ebooks and test materials, saying the e-commerce platform fails to remove listings and stores that violate the publishers’ trademarks and copyrights. The lawsuit, filed today in the US District Court for Eastern Virginia, claims statutory damages higher than $500 million.

The publishers — Pearson Education, Inc., Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning, Inc., Elsevier Inc., and McGraw Hill — say in the lawsuit that Shopify “assists and profits from the online sale of infringing copies” of the textbooks and other products. The publishers also say that Shopify has received “detailed notices virtually every week for years” that identify listings selling...

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Sony’s $9,000 drone is now available to order ahead of a December 24th ship date

Sony’s new Airpeak S1 drone. | Image: Sony

Sony’s $9,000 Airpeak S1 drone is now available to order, the company announced Wednesday. It’s expected to ship starting December 24th.

The Airpeak S1, which was first teased in January at CES 2021, is targeted toward video professionals and is designed to be used with Sony’s mirrorless cameras. According to the drone’s product page, it has a flight time of 22 minutes without a payload and up to 12 minutes with a “heavy payload,” such as a Sony A7S Mark III camera. Sony says the Airpeak is stable in winds of up to 44.7mph, which could be useful for capturing footage in windy conditions.

The $9,000 price tag comes with two pairs of propellers, a remote controller, two batteries, and a battery charger. It doesn’t include a camera or...

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is its latest attempt to hit a Windows on Arm home run

Qualcomm has announced its latest flagship chip for PCs: the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, which, as the name implies, succeeds last year’s 8cx Gen 2 model and offers some substantial jumps in performance.

The 8cx Gen 3 is the first chip for Windows computers built on a 5nm process and promises up to 85 percent better CPU performance and up to 60 percent faster GPU performance compared to the 8cx Gen 2. Additionally, Qualcomm boasts that its new chip offers “60 percent greater performance per watt over the competitive x86 platform” — although the company is notably quiet on which x86 platform its comparing things to. Qualcomm also touts that the chip supports “multi-day battery life,” although again, it didn’t provide too many details.

...

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Qualcomm’s new G3x platform could usher in a new wave of Nintendo Switch-alikes

The Snapdragon G3x Handheld Gaming Developer Kit. | Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm is upping its investment in gaming with a new Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Gaming Platform, which manufacturers can use to make Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck-like handheld gaming devices. The Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 is an Android-based platform designed to let you play Android games, stream games from a console or PC, or play games via cloud gaming services.

The basis of the platform is the new G3x chip. It has an Adreno GPU, similar to Qualcomm’s existing smartphone chips, which will let you play games at up 144fps. It also supports sub-6Hz 5G, mmWave 5G, and Wi-Fi 6E for speedy networking. If you want to connect G3x-powered devices to other screens, the chip supports output to a 4K display or tethering to a mixed reality headset over a...

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Amazon Alexa can now respond to running water and bleeping appliances

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon has expanded sound detection for routines, as well as made Alexa’s prescription refill skill available to Amazon Pharmacy customers. The company described the changes in its Alexa monthly roundup for November, which also includes mentions the US rollout of Conversation Mode, and that the wall-mountable Echo Show 15 will start shipping next week.

Amazon first announced its plans to support custom sounds at its fall event back in September, but it doesn’t look like you’re able to program custom sounds just yet — Amazon has simply added two new sounds you can tell Alexa to recognize. With the new update, the device can listen out for the sounds of water running and appliances beeping.

If you want Alexa to detect the chime of your...

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A new Matrix Resurrections trailer is all about change

Warner Bros.

Let’s get something out of the way: this is The Verge, and if there is any movie we are going to cover the shit out of, it’s The Matrix Resurrections— even if its new trailer is long on melting / morphing faces and short on clues about the plot.

The latest trailer, titled “Déjà Vu,” opens with a voiceover from Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) with a line from the first movie, when she explains that “déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.” That sentence repeats several times. We see a black cat cross Neo’s path just like in the first movie, and we see a series of screen wipes, moving between younger and older versions of characters, including Neo — in the birthing goo pod — Trinity, Morpheus (hi,...

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Frances Haugen is kicking Congress into gear on 230 reform

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified for the second time before Congress on Wednesday. But instead of explaining Facebook’s harms, Haugen provided guidance on how to fix the problems the platform created.

Specifically, House lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Committee requested Haugen’s input on a slew of recently introduced measures to reform tech’s controversial legal liability shield under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Both Republicans and Democrats have a stake in the game, but their deep divides over what kind of online content should stay up or down has stalled any chance of pushing reforms.

But House Democrats are more optimistic now than ever in their abilities to clamp down on hate speech and...

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Jack Dorsey’s Square is changing its name to Block

Block’s new logo. | Image: Block

Square, a financial services company co-founded by now-former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block, the company announced Wednesday. Square has grown beyond just offering financial services — it took a majority stake in the music streaming service Tidal this year, for example — which Block is using as the justification for the new name.

“The change to Block acknowledges the company’s growth,” the company said in a press release. “Since its start in 2009, the company has added Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 as businesses, and the name change creates room for further growth. Block is an overarching ecosystem of many businesses united by their purpose of economic empowerment, and serves many people—individuals, artists,...

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Nvidia’s new RTX 2060 12GB graphics card is coming to quell shortages

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiling the RTX 2060 graphics card in 2019. | Photo by Nvidia

In February 2021, Nvidia committed to reissuing some of its older GPUs — namely the RTX 2060 and GTX 1050 Ti — to give gamers a couple of low-cost options that scalpers or crypto miners (hopefully) won’t see much use for during the chip shortage. The company is following through on at least part of that promise by releasing a new variant of the RTX 2060 that has 12GB of video RAM, doubling the memory of the standard configuration originally released in 2019.

Nvidia says that various models should become available starting Tuesday, December 7th. The specs for revised Founders Edition GPU are available right here. Note the slightly higher base clock speed and the slightly increased CUDA cores (2,176 versus 1,920 in the standard RTX 2060)....

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Apple Music’s terrible year in review is giving me serious Spotify Wrapped FOMO

It’s December 1st, which for Spotify users, means the annual tradition of the music streaming service’s Spotify Wrapped roundup: customized, flashy infographics of the top songs, playlists, artists, and podcast that you’ve listened to over the last year, chock-full of data, mood boards, and just a sprinkling of judgment.

I, unfortunately, do not use Spotify. Instead, I pay Apple $10 per month for Apple Music, Spotify’s biggest competitor. And so while virtually everyone I know on Twitter and Instagram is spending the entirety of today putting their personal taste in music on blast, I get... a playlist of the songs that I listened to the most this year.

This is fine.

Spotify has been eating Apple’s lunch for years...

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HMD Global backs out of Nokia 9 PureView Android 11 upgrade, blames camera system

The Nokia 9 PureView was launched in 2019 with a rare five-camera system. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

HMD Global is not only reneging on its promise to bring Android 11 to the Nokia 9 PureView, but it is also dangling a discount for a new phone at customers who just found out their current devices are no longer supported.

These are customers who paid between $599 and $699 for the premium Nokia 9 PureView back in 2019 after it made quite a splash with its quintuple rear camera array at World Mobile Congress that year. At the time, Nokia was even known as the best phone brand for receiving fast software updates, according to Counterpoint Research, so customers understandably might have felt they could trust Nokia and HMD Global.

As one of the devices in the Android One program, the Nokia 9 PureView runs a near-stock version of Android 9...

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Facebook removes block on searches for Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle Rittenhouse can rejoin Facebook if he wants, after being acquitted of murder charges in November. | Photo by Sean Krajacic - Pool/Getty Images

Facebook on Wednesday removed a block on searches for the name Kyle Rittenhouse that it had put into place following his arrest for an August 2020 shooting in Wisconsin that left two people dead and a third seriously injured. Last month, a jury in Kenosha acquitted Rittenhouse on all charges.

In the days following the shooting, the company removed Rittenhouse’s profile from Facebook and Instagram and blocked users from creating new profiles using his name, to prevent copycats from spreading misinformation. By the end of that week, Facebook was blocking searches for “Kyle Rittenhouse,” as well as removing expressions of praise or support for him on the platforms.

“After the verdict in Kenosha we rolled back the restrictions we had in...

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Honor 60 announced in China with vlogging-focused gesture controls

The Honor 60 series. | Image: Honor

Honor, the former Huawei sub-brand that split from the Chinese tech giant last year, has announced its latest handsets for the Chinese market. The Honor 60 and Honor 60 Pro are two midrange handsets powered by Qualcomm’s recent Snapdragon 778G Plus processor, but otherwise, they’re very similar to the Honor 50 series phones released earlier this year, right down to having similar dual-ring camera bumps on the rear of each phone.

A notable new feature for both new phones is support for hand gesture controls, which let you perform actions like making the “Okay” gesture or raising your hand to perform camera controls like switching between its front and back cameras, or enabling picture-in-picture mode. The phone can recognize five hand...

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Verizon teams up with B&O on pricey Android TV soundbars for cord-cutters

The Verizon logo can return to your living room and you’re technically still a cord-cutter ($399 Verizon Stream TV Soundbar shown) | Image: Inside Verizon YouTube Channel

Verizon already sells accessories like phone cases and chargers, but in addition to electronics like digital picture frames and tablets, there are also... soundbars. Verizon announced today that it’s releasing two new soundbars with a built-in Verizon Stream TV streaming box. The $399.99 Stream TV Soundbar and $999.99 Stream TV Soundbar Pro are both built by Bang & Olufsen, with the Pro model sporting a similar housing to the even more expensive Beosound Stage, but with nine drivers inside instead of 11.

The concept of a soundbar with streaming hardware hidden inside is nothing new, as Roku, JBL, and others have someoptions to reduce the clutter in your entertainment center.

Since Verizon’s Stream TV system is a skinned Android TV...

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Respawn stops selling the original Titanfall

Respawn Entertainment has decided to end sales of the original Titanfall game.

A note about Titanfall. pic.twitter.com/Ew232HkUIo

— Respawn (@Respawn) December 1, 2021

Starting today, players will no longer be able to purchase Titanfall and the game will be removed from subscription services like Xbox Game Pass on March 1st, 2022. Though Titanfall is no longer purchasable, players who already own the game will still be able to play.

“We will, however, be keeping servers live for the dedicated fanbase still playing,” Respawn wrote. It is not known how long Respawn intends to keep those servers around.

Titanfall is no long available on Steam

The announcement goes on to say that the Titanfall universe is “core to...

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Windows 11 is getting some much-needed taskbar and Start menu improvements

Windows 11’s taskbar is a giant step back in usability compared to Windows 10, and now Microsoft is starting to make improvements. A new update that’s currently being tested by Windows Insiders brings the clock and date back to the taskbar on secondary or multiple monitors. It’s a change that multiple monitor users will appreciate, as many have had to install third-party apps like ElevenClock just to get this basic functionality in Windows 11.

I’ve not been shy about criticizing the changes made to the taskbar in Windows 11. I hate the new taskbar, so I’m happy to see Microsoft make this initial change. There’s still much more to be improved, and hopefully we see the return of being able to drag and drop files onto taskbar apps and the...

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TikTok rolls out Creator Next and expands money-making opportunities for creators

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

TikTok has announced that it’s rolling out Creator Next, a single hub for all of the platform's monetization tools, and it also outlined some updates for its existing creator tools (via TechCrunch). In a post on TikTok’s newsroom, the short-form video platform explains that alongside Creator Next, it’s also widely introducing its tipping feature, which lets users send money directly to their favorite creators.

This is part of TikTok’s larger efforts to retain creators and prevent them from hopping on other networks that pay creators, like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat. When the platform was just a year old in 2019, users struggled to find ways to earn money natively through the app, as they had to secure deals and...

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Xbox is letting more people test the very latest console features

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is opening up its invite-only Xbox testing rings for more console testers to get access to the very latest features. Xbox testing includes many levels, and the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings typically include the bleeding edge of Xbox dashboard features that may not debut publicly for months.

Microsoft keeps these Alpha rings invite-only, reserved for those who regularly provide feedback through other Xbox testing rings. Now, Microsoft is inviting Xbox testers to complete a survey to be considered for the Alpha or Alpha Skip-Ahead rings.

“You will receive a notice on your console if you are selected to participate,” says Austin Olney, an Xbox program manager. “There are limited spots available, so completing the survey does...

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Renewables see record growth in 2021, but supply chain problems loom

Photovoltaic modules at a solar power plant near Golmud, Qinghai province, China, on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. | Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

2021 is on course to break a global record for renewable energy growth, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest Renewables Market Report. That’s despite skyrocketing commodity prices, which could bog down the transition to clean energy in the future.

With 290 GW in additional capacity expected to be commissioned by the end of the year, 2021 will smash the record for renewable electricity growth that was just set last year. This year’s additions even outpace a forecast that the International Energy Agency (IEA) made in the spring.

“Exceptionally high growth” would be the “new normal” for renewable sources of electricity, the IEA said at the time. Solar energy, in particular, was on track to take the crown as the “new king...

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Spotify Wrapped 2021 is here to take over your social media

Spotify Wrapped 2021 | Image: Spotify

Spotify has released its eagerly anticipated Wrapped experience revealing the most listened to artists and albums for (most of) 2021. This year, it’s adding even more social media-friendly features that help you share your favorite music with a customized movie, aura, or playing cards. Naturally, you can share Spotify’s auto-created images on your timeline and, for the first time, directly to TikTok. It’s sure to spark discussions with friends and provide valuable marketing for Spotify that competitors like Apple and YouTube can’t seem to match.

Here’s how to find your Spotify 2021 Wrapped experience. To get all of the interactive features, you’ll need to open the Spotify mobile app — it’s not available on the desktop or web version. If...

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Google announces grab bag of new Android features for the end of 2021

Image: Google

Google has a bevy of new features coming soon to Android, including new widgets for YouTube Music, Google Play Books, and Google Photos; new Android Auto features; and updates for Google Assistant and Google Photos. The company detailed the new features in a blog post.

The biggest car-based addition is that from today Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S21 owners will be able to use their phones as a car key with “compatible BMW vehicles” in select countries. Google announced it was working on the car key feature for Android 12 in May, specifically citing BMW as one of the manufacturers with which it would work. Google says the feature will be available “on all BMW 2020 & 2022 model year vehicles,” and that it hopes to add more...

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General Motors announces it will build a new cathode plant in North America

General Motors announced that it will construct a new cathode factory in North America for its electric vehicle batteries. The factory, which will be built under a joint venture with South Korea’s Posco Chemical, will process cathode active material (CAM), which represents about 40 percent of the cost of an EV battery cell.

Much like the rest of the auto industry, GM is racing to boost its EV offerings, vowing to spend $27 billion on the development and production of 30 new electric vehicles by 2025. To accomplish this enormous feat, the company is trying to get a stronger grasp on its supply chain, which includes battery manufacturing. The company has said it will spend over $4 billion on the construction of two battery factories in...

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Barnes & Noble announces new Nook GlowLight 4, says it cares for real this time

Barnes & Noble has once again remembered that it ostensibly wants to sell e-readers and has announced the Nook GlowLight 4, a $149 e-reader that offers a refreshed design, more onboard storage, and USB-C charging to the company’s lineup.

The last dedicated Nook e-reader, the GlowLight 3, was announced 49 months ago (to the day) on November 1st, 2017, although Barnes & Noble did give the Nook brand a shot in the arm earlier this year with a new, Lenovo-made budget tablet.

The new GlowLight 4 doesn’t appear to move the needle much compared to the 2017 model, though. The display is an identical six-inch, 300ppi e-paper display with an integrated backlight and adjustable color temperature functionality, although the company has slimmed...

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Hawkeye’s trick USB arrow is in desperate need of a dongle

Photo: Marvel Studios

In the third episode of Hawkeye, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) does something very unexpected: she requests a USB dongle in the midst of a battle.

The highlight of the episode is a scene where Kate and her reluctant mentor, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), are fighting their way through the Tracksuit Mafia amidst some hectic New York City traffic. While Clint drives, Kate goes through his collection of trick arrows. Most are the kind of comic book goofiness you’d expect: one arrow creates a bubbling purple foam; another becomes destructively huge. Later, though, Clint hands Kate something much less useful in a fight: an arrow with a USB-A port on the end. “God, I hope he’s got a dongle to make this useful,” Kate quips afterward. (It turns...

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What’s the best student laptop? We asked students

The Dell XPS 13 is one of the best laptops for high school and college students. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Shopping for a laptop can be stressful — doubly stressful if you or your children will be learning online for the first time. Kids of different ages have a range of different laptop use cases and different needs. And as the choices for best laptop and best Chromebook evolve, so do students’ needs. So I spoke to some experts on the subject: students themselves.

My recommendations here are meant to accommodate a variety of preferences and price ranges. But they’re a jumping-off point rather than an exhaustive list: every student is different. Before making a decision, you’ll want to make sure you read reviews and try out devices yourself if you can. I’ll do my best to keep this article up to date with items that are in stock.

Best laptop...

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Jabra Elite 7 Pro review: something’s missing

Jabra’s latest earbuds impress on voice quality but arrive without the company’s signature feature

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