Logitech’s Pen is a durable stylus made for Chromebooks in the classroom

The Logitech Pen doesn’t requiring pairing, thanks to its USI support. But, it won’t work on every Chromebook released. | Logitech

Logitech has announced a new stylus called Pen, and it’s aimed at being the best option available for classrooms full of Chromebooks. Unlike many rubber-tipped styli, the Pen is an active stylus that supports the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) standard, effectively guaranteeing one thing: it’ll work out of the box on a number of recent Chromebooks — no pairing required.

If a Chromebook is mentioned on this list, the Pen will work with it. Logitech says that more Chromebook manufacturers have been moving forward with the USI standard, so expect to see more models added to it.

The Pen can recharge via a USB-C port located where you’d find the eraser on a traditional pencil, and Logitech says it can last for up to 15 days of regular...

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Samsung announces first smartphone chip with AMD ray tracing GPU

Samsung has announced the Exynos 2200, its new in-house mobile processor for smartphones. It’s the first mobile system-on-a-chip to include a GPU with AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture, enabling features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The collaboration with AMD has been long in the making. The two companies first announced a licensing deal in 2019, then AMD confirmed last year that Samsung’s “next flagship mobile SoC” would use RDNA 2. Samsung recently teased an announcement event for the Exynos 2200 that was supposed to take place on January 11th, but it was mysteriously delayed.

The Exynos 2200 is manufactured on Samsung’s 4nm EUV process. Samsung is branding this GPU as “Xclipse,” and AMD’s SVP of Radeon GPU tech David Wang...

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Wikitrivia is a web game that challenges your knowledge of historical dates

In this game you put events from Wikipedia in a timeline.

If you’re a history buff, or are looking for a new web game to play, Wikitrivia may be worth your time. The game’s creator, Tom Watson, describes it on his site as “Wikidata as a trivia card game,” and the tweet that brought it to our attention called it an “online clone of the card game Timeline.”

Playing it is simple: it gives you a card that represents something that has a date, which is pulled from Wikidata; some examples I saw asked me to pin down when the Bastille was built, when the Foo Fighters were formed, and when the October Revolution ended (unfortunately, it was looking for a year, not a month). You then have to put the card on the correct place in the timeline. You’re allowed three mistakes, which are represented by hearts,...

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Google changed the Assistant’s white noise sound, and many aren’t happy about it

Some Nest customers are unhappy with Google’s changes. | Photo: Dan Seifert / The Verge

Google offers many ambient sounds from the Google Assistant, including one for white noise that might help block out noise to make it easier to sleep or study. But the company seemingly changed its white noise sound last week, and many have expressed frustration with the update, as reported by 9to5Google.

The change has been disruptive for a lot of people, as documented in this Google Nest community thread with more than 150 replies. Some described the new white noise as quieter or sounding muffled. One person said their child has asked to use another white noise generator instead of a Google Nest Hub. Another said their toddler has observed the change and wakes up during the night.

Google didn’t immediately reply to a request for...

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Jared Kushner floated the idea of a federal cryptocurrency, documents reveal

Kushner acted as a presidential advisor in the Trump administration. | Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law who acted as a senior advisor during Trump’s time in the White House, was apparently interested in the idea of whether the federal government should make a cryptocurrency in 2018. In an email to then-US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Kushner asked if he could have a group of people “brainstorm” about the government creating its own digital currency, as revealed by a Freedom Of Information Act request from CoinDesk.

While we haven’t seen the idea come to fruition, it’s interesting that someone who had a lot of status in the White House (and also acted as the director for the Office of American Innovation) was thinking about it years ago.

Here’s the email in full:

Steven —

W...

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What exactly is the Jodorowsky’s Dune crypto collective trying to make, anyway?

Spice DAO

Last year, a collective of cryptocurrency fans pooled millions of dollars to buy a copy of the story bible for director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s legendary never-made adaptation of the novel Dune. After winning a November auction, the group voted last week on a direction for the project and got promptly roasted online for allegedly not understanding what they’d bought. Their plans included an animated series inspired by Jodorowsky’s Dune, and as any good collector likely knows, buying a commemorative copy of a script or storyboard doesn’t give you the right to shoot your own version.

The actual situation seems more ambiguous than some critics are suggesting. The _Dune_story bible’s owners, known as Spice DAO (short for “decentralized...

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Over 30 Activision Blizzard employees have ‘exited’ since July, WSJ reports

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

37 Activision Blizzard employees have reportedly “exited” the company since July of last year as part of the company’s attempt to crack down on issues surrounding sexual harassment, according to internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Activision Blizzard spokesperson Helaine Klasky also told the WSJ that 44 individuals were disciplined in connection with workplace misconduct allegations.

Kotick reportedly didn’t want to release this information for fear of making the situation seem worse

These numbers likely include the more than 20 workers that exited the company in October, along with around 20 workers who the company reprimanded at the time. The WSJ also notes that Activision Blizzard collected around 700...

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Awesome Games Done Quick speedrun raises $3.4 million for charity

Mitchriz speedruns Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice while blindfolded at AGDQ 2022. | Screenshot: Games Done Quick via YouTube

Games Done Quick has raised $3.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation at its annual video game speedrunning event, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), the most money ever raised at a single Games Done Quick event (via IGN).

The organization, which holds two speedrunning events for charity every year, announced its success on Twitter. It’s the most money Games Done Quick has ever raised, and also the fastest the organization has ever reached $1 million in donations. As noted on AGDQ’s tracker, the event showcased a total of 149 speedruns and received 49,482 donations from 28,073 different people.

AGDQ 2022 was livestreamed on Twitch from January 9th to January 16th and featured some of the world’s most talented speedrunners who broke...

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Spain will regulate influencers promoting cryptocurrency

Illustration by James Bareham / The Verge

Spain has announced new rules for how social media influencers and others can advertise cryptocurrency assets, Reuters reports. Starting next month, the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) will require people and companies to notify it at least 10 days before running campaigns for crypto assets. The rules apply to influencers with more than 100,000 subscribers who are paid to promote cryptocurrency — a practice that’s drawn criticism and even lawsuits worldwide.

According to Reuters, crypto advertisers will need to release the content of their upcoming campaigns to the CNMV, and they must include warnings about the risks of what they’re selling. The rules are designed to let the CNMV monitor the marketing ecosystem...

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For veteran Final Fantasy XIV fans Endwalker has been a loving thank you note

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker signifies the end of an era. One story, started nine years ago, has ended with a stunning and heartwarming conclusion, while the promise of a new adventure awaits on the horizon. But Endwalker doesn’t merely mark the end of the Hydaelyn / Zodiark saga. For a few diehard players, Endwalker also provides a final coda for the game Final Fantasy XIV was before it was rebooted into A Realm Reborn.

The original Final Fantasy XIV Online — colloquially known as “1.0” — had a rough release. Reviews at the time said the game “lacked character, cohesion, and joy” and lamented its every feature from the UI to the storytelling. The one thing Tatjana Vejnovic remembers of 1.0 was “[h]ow un-fucking-playable it was.”

“...

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The Verge’s favorite tools to stay organized

Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Life these days can be very complicated, and many of us — I’d guess that most of us — are constantly looking for the best method to keep our lives in order. What do you need on your grocery list? When is that work project due, and who is working on it with you? A friend wants to do a movie-watching session, but is that the same day you promised your parents to help clean the garage? Which bills are due, and can you afford to pay them all? Where is that article about which masks to wear? And on and on.

So we decided to start off 2022 by asking the staff of The Verge what they use to keep track of all their appointments / tasks / projects / workflows. And it turned out that they use a variety of different apps or some fairly old-fashioned...

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Roomba j7 Plus vs. Jet Bot AI Plus: can these robot vacuums pass the poop test?

Home robots are getting smarter

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How to pick a new monitor for working from home

Illustration by Samar Haddad / Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales

You now interact with coworkers through a flat rectangle — let’s get you a larger, better one

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Amazon reverses decision to ban Visa credit cards in the UK over fees

Photo by Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images

Amazon says it will continue to accept payment in the UK from Visa credit cards, reversing a decision to ban the cards that was announced last November and due to kick in this week on Wednesday, January 19th.

In an email to customers, Amazon said it was “working closely on a potential solution that will enable customers to continue using their Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk.” The company did not say what the solution was or how long it might be in place, but added that “should we make any changes related to Visa credit cards, we will give you advance notice.”

Visa raised interchange fees five-fold after the UK left the EU

The original decision to ban Visa credit cards on Amazon.co.uk arose from a dispute over payment fees levied by...

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Microsoft lets you follow YouTube creators in Edge browser test

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft has started testing some deeper YouTube integration in its Edge browser. The latest Canary developer builds of Edge include a new “followable web” feature that lets you easily follow your favorite content creators on YouTube.

Reddit user Leopeva64 spotted a new YouTube follow button that appears in the address bar of YouTube pages. Following creators will add them to a feed that’s part of the Collections feature in Edge. The feature is clearly in the early preview stages, and it doesn’t support all YouTube content creators just yet. The feed that’s created in Collections lets you see recent posts from creators that you follow.

Image: Reddit (Leopeva64)

The new web following feature in Edge.

This...

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Apple digital keys reportedly coming to some Hyundai cars this summer

Hyundai’s Genesis cars could soon get access to the feature. | Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Hyundai and its Genesis brand are reportedly close to adding support for Apple’s digital car key feature, which lets you unlock and start compatible vehicles using the iPhone’s Wallet app, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. According to Gurman, the so-called “CarKey” feature is set to come to Hyundai’s Genesis lineup this summer.

Hyundai already offers proprietary iOS apps, including MyHyundai with Bluelink and the Genesis Intelligent Assistant, which include the ability to remotely start, or unlock the doors of compatible vehicles. But adding support for Apple’s implementation of the digital key feature should make the functionality more seamless, and benefit from system-level Apple Wallet shortcuts. Hyundai’s site notes that its...

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Oppo’s next flagship leaks with OnePlus-esque Hasselblad branding

Details on Oppo’s upcoming flagship phone are starting to come together. Multiple leaks are suggesting it’ll be called the Find X5 Pro, with a similar design to last year’s Find X3 Pro and specs broadly in line with the new OnePlus 10 Pro, which is already available in China. (OnePlus, of course, is now treated as a sub-brand of Oppo.)

The Find X3 Pro wasn’t sold in the US, but it did make its way to Europe and was one of the best phones of 2021. Renders recently released by OnLeaks show a device with a camera bump that flows into the rest of the back panel in a similar fashion to the Find X3 Pro, although the camera configuration has changed and doesn’t appear to include the previous phone’s unique ring light-equipped “microscope”...

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Walmart is getting serious about the metaverse

Walmart’s recent trademark applications suggest that it wants to break into the metaverse. | Photo by Yichuan Cao / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Walmart appears to be getting ready for a leap into the metaverse. Recent trademark applications indicate the company is looking to establish its own NFTs and cryptocurrency, according to a report from CNBC.

The retail giant filed for several trademarks on December 30th, suggesting plans to start selling virtual goods, including electronics, toys, appliances, sporting equipment, apparel, home decor, and more, as noted by CNBC. There’s mention of offering customers a digital currency, as well as the opportunity to buy and sell NFTs. Meanwhile, another application details possible “physical fitness training services” and “classes in the field of health and nutrition” that could take place in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality...

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Safari 15 bug can leak your recent browsing activity and personal identifiers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A bug in Safari 15 can leak your browsing activity, and can also reveal some of the personal information attached to your Google account, according to findings from FingerprintJS, a browser fingerprinting and fraud detection service (via 9to5Mac). The vulnerability stems from an issue with Apple’s implementation of IndexedDB, an application programming interface (API) that stores data on your browser.

As explained by FingerprintJS, IndexedDB abides by the same-origin policy, which restricts one origin from interacting with data that was collected on other origins — essentially, only the website that generates data can access it. For example, if you open your email account in one tab and then open a malicious webpage in another, the...

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Samsung’s next tablet lineup could include a 14.6-inch ‘Ultra’ model with a notch

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra may have a 14.6-inch display with a notch. | Image by WinFuture

Samsung might be adding its first-ever “Ultra” model to its upcoming Galaxy Tab S8 lineup, which will also include a Tab S8 and S8 Plus, as rumored by WinFuture.

According to WinFuture, the flagship Ultra model could sport a 14.6-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2960 x 1848px resolution, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, as well as a notch with two 12-megapixel (MP) cameras. It may also come with the option of up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, along with a 11200mAh battery.

Image by WinFuture

The Galaxy Tab S8 Plus is rumored to have a 12.7-inch display with no notch.

When compared to the Tab S8 Ultra, the Super AMOLED display on the Tab S8 Plus is a bit smaller, potentially measuring at 12.7 inches with a...

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Wordle! and Wardle team up to donate proceeds from an unrelated app’s popularity spike

Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images

Wordle is a free browser game, and a browser game only — it has no accompanying apps, something that some people (myself included, regrettably) might not realize during a time when nearly everything has an app.

This leaves plenty of room for fake Wordle apps to crowd app stores in an attempt to leech off of the word puzzle game’s sudden rise in popularity. But there’s one app coincidentally called Wordle! that’s not a clone — it actually existed before the browser game itself. That’s why its developer is teaming up with the mind behind the browser-based Wordle, Josh Wardle, to use its accidental success as an opportunity to give back, according to a report from GameSpot.

The story unraveled in a thread on Twitter, with Wordle! app...

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The trials and tribulations of turning a real camera into a webcam

This is not a Sony A7 III, but it will do. | Illustration by Samar Haddad

A mirrorless camera should just work; it did not

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Google might’ve accidentally approved an ad for a Target gift card scam

Photo by Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Most of us check our gift card balances online (because who actually keeps those receipts that tell us how much money we have left on them?), making an apparent oversight by Google all the worse. It appears that Google inadvertently approved a prominent ad for a phony Target gift card balance checker that’s meant to steal your funds.

A Reddit user on r/assholedesign discovered the slip-up when searching Google for “Target gift card balance” on mobile, and found that the very first result is an ad, titled “Check Gift Card Balance - Target.” Only, the site isn’t Target — it’s actually a site called “bristolhirevan.” The ad’s description says it will let you check your gift card balance “immediately,” and that it also offers “all van sizes...

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AT&T, Dish, and T-Mobile spend billions on more 5G spectrum

Photo by George Frey/AFP via Getty Images

AT&T, Dish, and T-Mobile dropped billions of dollars in a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction to acquire more 5G spectrum licenses in the midrange 3.45GHz to 3.55GHz band, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

While AT&T was the biggest spender at $9 billion, Dish spent $7.3 billion, and T-Mobile followed behind at $2.9 billion. Verizon was notably absent from the auction. A number of smaller players also made the list, like Three Forty-Five Spectrum, which you can view on Light Reading’s site.

This is the third-largest FCC auction yet, with total bids reaching about $22.5 billion

The auction officially ended in November, but the FCC hasn’t publicly disclosed the winning bidders until now (PDF). Total bids...

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Apple will now require employees to submit proof of COVID-19 booster shot by February 15th, or they will be subject to

Apple now requires store and corporate employees to get a COVID-19 booster shot, the company announced in an internal email seen by The Verge.

Once an employee is eligible to get a booster shot, they will have four weeks to comply, otherwise, they will need to take frequent tests to enter a retail store, partner store, or Apple office starting on February 15th. Apple will require unvaccinated employees — or those who haven’t yet submitted proof of vaccination — to provide negative COVID-19 rapid antigen tests before entering the workplace beginning on January 24th, although it’s unclear whether this applies to both corporate and retail employees.

Apple boosts safety protocols as the omicron variant spreads

“Due to waning efficacy of the...

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Apple will let dating apps offer third-party payment options in the Netherlands

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple will let dating app developers offer alternate payment options in the Netherlands in compliance with the Dutch regulator’s ruling, according to a report from Bloomberg. This will allow dating apps — and only dating apps — distributed in the country to avoid Apple’s 15 to 30 percent commission on in-app purchases.

In a message to developers on its site, Apple explains that it’s introducing two new optional “entitlements,” or specific app capabilities, that will let developers add third-party payment processors for dating apps in the Netherlands. Dating app developers can either direct customers to a website to complete their purchase or add a third-party payment service within the app. However, if developers choose to snub Apple’s...

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Yellowjackets has reawakened my inner Lost fan

Image: Showtime

For the last few weeks, my mind has been filled with questions that, out of context, make little sense. I’ve thought long and hard about why a high school girl would start eating dirt and which middle-aged man might be covered in glitter. I’ve pondered the significance of everything from psychedelic mushrooms to a high school soccer coach’s pep talk to a missing bullet in a police officer’s gun. I’ve even rewatched video to see if a state championship-winning goal was offside — and don’t get me started on how much I’ve thought about cannibalism. What I’m saying is: Yellowjackets has completely taken over my brain. I haven’t been this obsessed with theorizing about events in a television show since the cast of Lost discovered the hatch.

O...

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How a design museum unearthed a treasure trove of classic Slovak games

Šatochin.

Late last year, the Slovak Design Museum released a translated collection of ’80s text adventures from the region. The games, often programmed by teenagers, capture a moment in history when the first generation of Slovak developers were learning their craft to share among their friends.

The museum didn’t always cover games. Maroš Brojo, the general manager of the Slovak Game Developers Association, pitched the multimedia collection that he now curates. “When you get the patronage of a museum… it gives you much more credibility,” he says. “Suddenly, people start to have a very different view of this actually being part of something important. Our culture and our heritage.”

The 10 games that make up this first batch of translations and...

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Razer’s excellent Basilisk V3 mouse is selling for its best price ever

Razer’s Basilisk V3 is on sale at Amazon today for just $59.99. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

We’re starting the weekend with some exciting news for gamers: our pick for the best wired gaming mouse is now available for its lowest price to date. For only the third time, Amazon is selling Razer’s Basilisk V3 for just $59.99 instead of $69.99. The comfortable mouse delivers notable improvements over its predecessor, particularly in regards to its scroll wheel. Depending upon how hard your scroll, the mouse can switch between ridged scrolling and free-spin modes, which make it easier to scroll down the page more freely — a perk that comes in handy even if you’re not using the mouse for gaming. It also touts a 26K DPI sensor, RGB lighting, and 11 programmable buttons, so you can adjust the controls to your liking within Razer’s...

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Why you might want a secure file-sharing service now that you’re working from home

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

When we were all at the office, many of us were connected to the office network. We didn’t need to give sharing files much thought. But now that we’re scattered across the landscape, securely sharing important files can take careful planning. Here’s why you might want to use powerful file-sharing services to share sensitive files safely, so you can collaborate better no matter where you’re working.

Probably the easiest way to share a file is to just attach a document to an email, or to a Slack or other instant message. But either way invites trouble on several fronts. If you rely too much on your email or messaging system, your poorly archived files could become available to prying hackers with phishing lures. If you’re sharing...

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