Samsung confirms February Unpacked, hints at the end of the Note line

The Note 20 will likely be the last of its kind. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

Samsung will host an Unpacked event next month, the company has confirmed in a press release authored by president TM Roh, and the writing is on the wall for the Galaxy Note series. The release hints that more Note features will be coming to the Galaxy S series — specifically the next Ultra phone in the lineup, which looks poised to take on the Note’s built-in stylus and related productivity features. This all but seals the Note series’ fate, which Samsung left in ambiguous territory last year.

Things looked doubtful for a renewal of the Note series when 2021 came and went without a new Note device. Roh’s post acknowledges the disappointment from Note fans and that this feedback has been taken into account in designing “the most...

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Want to preorder Samsung’s next Galaxy phone sight unseen? You can

Image: evleaks (Twitter)

For the launch of Samsung’s next flagship smartphones — the Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra, we think — the Korean electronics giant will once again let you signal your intent to buy its phones before they’re even announced, much less go on sale.

So if you’re the kind of person who absolutely needs the new Samsung handset before anyone else (except influencers, journalists, and the like), you’ll want to check out Samsung.com tomorrow morning at 7AM PT / 10AM ET when the unannounced phones will be up for reservation.

If it’s anything like previousoccasions, you won’t need to plunk down a virtual wad of cash just yet — you’re simply reserving a slot to order the phone later, typically after the company’s actual smartphone keynote (c...

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Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wants to ‘keep Call of Duty on PlayStation’

Like with Minecraft, Microsoft might keep Call of Duty multiplatform. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The gaming industry is reeling from the potential ramifications of Microsoft’s massive deal to acquire Activision, and some of the biggest questions have been about the future of the Call of Duty franchise, which is a big hit on both PlayStation and Xbox consoles. While we still don’t know for sure where you’ll be able to play the newest Call of Duty games if the acquisition goes through, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer suggests the series does have a future on Sony platforms.

“Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony,” Spencer said Thursday evening. “I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our...

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GameStop will have PlayStation 5 bundles in stock tomorrow at 11AM ET

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If you’re one of the many still on the hunt for a PlayStation 5, you’re about to have another shot at GameStop, as the retailer will have the coveted next-gen console online starting tomorrow, January 21st, at 11AM ET / 8AM PT. The retailer will offer the standard, disc-based PS5 as part of a bundle that includes a copy of _Call of Duty: Vanguard,_an extra DualSense controller in red, a $50 Gamestop gift card, and a 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus.

GameStop did not supply specifics on exactly how much the bundle will cost — nor did it mention whether the restock will take place online or in-person — but the total of everything being offered is roughly $750. Another small catch is that the restock will only be available to...

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Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon might be hiding an underground ocean

Mimas and Enceladus moons | Image: Southwest Research Institute

During a mission to discover whether or not Saturn’s moon Mimas was geologically dead, researchers discovered something far more surprising: “compelling evidence” of an underground ocean buried beneath the surface of the Death Star-like moon. Mimas, the researchers say, might be a “‘stealth’ ocean world,” a finding that, if verified, would further expand the number of potentially habitable places in our solar system.

Icy moons with evidence of subsurface oceans have garnered a lot of attention from scientists lately. The two best known examples in our solar system, Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa, are considered prime places to search for alien life. Enceladus, in particular, appears to have most of the ingredients needed to...

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Paramount Plus Fatal Attraction reboot will see Lizzy Caplan down bad for Joshua Jackson

Though the original _Fatal Attraction_is a seminal classic that’s always worth revisiting, Paramount’s confident that it’s high time the film was remade as a series for the generation who grew up watching _Dawson’s Creek_and Mean Girls on repeat.

In the new Paramount Plus Fatal Attraction, a series written by Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives, Dirty John), Joshua Jackson stars as Dan Gallagher, a man whose chance sexual encounter with a woman named Alex Forrest (Lizzy Caplan) leads to a torrid affair that quickly turns dark. Like the original, this Alex’s feelings for her beau sour once he begins to rebuff her, and her obsessive feelings for him begin to grow increasingly intense and dangerous. But according to Deadline, the new F...

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FAA estimates 78 percent of US planes can now land at airports with 5G C-band

There were concerns some altimeters might not properly filter 5G signals. | Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The FAA has announced that an “estimated 78 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet” have been cleared to land at airports with 5G C-band, even under low-visibility conditions. The agency’s statement comes after a week of controversy surrounding the rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s upgraded cellular tech, which saw US airlines warning of “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping and some international airlines announcing they’d halt flights to some US airports.

At issue are concerns that some radio altimeters won’t properly ignore signals from the new 5G transmitters. While there are precautions that should keep this from happening, including creating buffer zones around airports, an incorrect altimeter reading could cause real problems...

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How to play Wordle

Wordle is the free word game everyone on Twitter seems to be playing. | Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

By this point in the pandemic, we’re all looking for something pleasant to distract us — even momentarily — from all the chaos, which may explain why the simple, no-frills game Wordle has become so popular. It’s a web-based puzzle that requires players to guess a new five-letter word every day, in six tries or less, and everyone gets the same word. You may have seen people sharing the gray, green, and yellow square patterns on Twitter, which show how they performed on that day’s Wordle without giving away the solution (more on that in a sec).

According to a lovely New York Times profile of Wordle creator and software engineer Josh Wardle (get it?), he devised the game as a gift for his partner Palak Shah, who loves word games and...

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AirBuddy 2.5 for macOS adds better Bluetooth control for some non-Apple headphones

AirBuddy 2.5 has a new “Proximity Engine” v2 that should detect and hand off peripherals faster. | Image: Buddy Software

A new version of AirBuddy for macOS Monterey is available starting today, adding the option to quickly shift some non-Apple Bluetooth headphones and other devices between Macs and iPhones. The original AirBuddy app for macOS that launched in 2019 was a simple solution to let AirPods interface with your Mac just as seamlessly as they already did on iOS devices — complete with the animated pop-up many iPhone users are accustomed to seeing.

AirBuddy 2.5 takes advantage of new under-the-hood macOS Monterey changes to enable things like low battery notifications, switching from transparency mode to noise-canceling on AirPods that are not even currently outputting sound from the Mac, and easy control over automatic switching between devices....

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Apple’s head of comms is leaving after less than a year

Apple is renowned for a culture of secrecy, one that’s managed in no small part by the company’s head of communications. But it’s had a hard time filling that role, with the most recent entrant — Stella Low, formerly Cisco’s PR chief — now leaving after less than a year on the job.

Fifteen-year Apple vet Kristin Huguet Quayle is taking over, according to journalist Kara Swisher and BuzzFeed’s John Paczkowski. Apple confirmed to BuzzFeed that she’s been promoted effective immediately, as Low leaves to spend more time with her family. The previous comms boss, Steve Dowling, left in September 2019, and Apple left the role open for nearly two years before hiring Low last May. (During that time, long-time Apple marketing and App Store boss...

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The PlayStation 5 is available once again at Best Buy right now

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Update January 20th, 2:58PM EST: ThePlayStation 5 Digital Edition for $399.99has also gone up for sale at Best Buy. We have updated the copy and product cards in this post.

While there have been many restocks of Sony’s PlayStation 5 console as it slowly gets a little easier to obtain one, we’re sadly not out of the woods just yet. The PS5 is still hard to come by for a product that is over one year old. Thankfully, there’s another chance to pick one up today, care of Best Buy.

Best Buy is opening up orders for the standard disc drive-equipped PlayStation 5 console, costing $499.99 and disc-less Digital Edition for $399.99. Orders from Best Buy are usually based around store pickup orders, so it is very likely that you may need some...

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Peloton’s woes continue as it temporarily halts bike, treadmill production

Peloton is pausing production of its connected bikes and treadmills. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Peloton’s pandemic fortunes began waning in 2021, and it appears that trend is continuing into the new year. According to a new CNBC report, Peloton has decided to temporarily halt production of its connected exercise bikes and treadmills amid weak consumer demand.

Citing a confidential internal company presentation, CNBC reports that Peloton will stop producing its original Bike from February to March. The company halted production on its more premium Bike Plus in December and apparently has no plans to restart until at least June. The newer Peloton Tread, which launched last year, will also cease production for six weeks starting next month. Unsurprisingly, Peloton also reportedly has no plans to produce any Tread Plus machines in...

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Epic pushes to overturn App Store ruling in opening appeal brief

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Epic Games has filed its opening brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn the previous ruling that Apple’s control over the iOS App Store does not qualify as a monopoly. The company first gave notice of it appeal in September, but Thursday’s filing is the first time it has laid out its argument at length.

“Epic proved at trial that Apple retrains trade...by contractually requiring developers to exclusively use Apple’s App Store to distribute apps and Apple’s IAP for payments for digital content within apps,” the filing reads. “If not overturned, [the district court] decision would upend established principles of antitrust law and...undermine sound antitrust policy.”

Epic’s first legal challenge to Apple’s App...

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Lawmakers approve Big Tech antitrust overhaul, but with strings attached

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Congress is one step closer to actualizing transformative antitrust reform for the tech industry after sending their most viable bill to the Senate floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the American Innovation and Choice Online Act by a 16-6 vote on Thursday after hours of lengthy debate. The bill – sponsored by a bipartisan group of tech hawks like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) – would ban dominant tech platforms from favoring their own services and products over those of their competitors.

The successful committee vote comes after a week of antitrust action from the federal government that’s spooked the tech industry and put lobbyists in a frenzy. While prohibiting self-preferencing, like Amazon placing its...

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Twitter brings NFTs to the timeline as hexagon-shaped profile pictures

Twitter NFT profile pictures | Image: Twitter.com

Twitter said in September that it would add a way for users to authenticate non-fungible tokens (NFT), and now the feature is live — if you pay for a $2.99 Twitter Blue subscription and are using an iOS device.

Image: Twitter

Image: Twitter

On one hand, NFT profile pictures could be viewed as an incredible technology integration adding real utility for verified digital items. Alternately, it’s an unmissable signal pointing out the people that you should block or mute before they try to sell you some of their blockchain receipts.

No matter what your opinion of easily reproduced digital trinkets is, Twitter is integrating them in a way that separates ridiculous images of cartoon apes that have...

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TikTok marketing lead behind its NFTs and ghost kitchens no longer at the company

TikTok has had some... interesting marketing campaigns recently. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Nick Tran is no longer TikTok’s global head of marketing, reportedly because the company was unimpressed with his “side-show” marketing campaigns, according to the_New York Post_. Some of the most notable “stunt-marketing” schemes he came up with included opening TikTok Kitchens, letting people apply to jobs at places like Chipotle or Target via TikToks, and an NFT collaboration with celebrities like Lil’ Nas X and Bella Poarch.

The _Post_reports that the restaurant campaign, where ghost kitchens would cook and deliver recipes that went viral on TikTok, was the one of the last straws for Tran. “We’re not in the restaurant business and we shouldn’t pretend to be,” one executive reportedly said. Looking at some of the campaigns, it is a...

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Elon Musk’s Neuralink is hiring a clinical trial director

Musk says trials should start this year. | Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

Elon Musk’s brain-machine interface company Neuralink has a new job posting for a clinical trial director, a position that could help the company move towards its stated goal of testing its brain implant in actual people.

Since launching publicly in 2017, Neuralink has demoed its brain implant in pigs and monkeys but has yet to announce a start to the long-promised trials in humans. The company’s implant is a coin-like device with electrodes studded on thin, flexible wires. The wires are its main innovation over older brain-machine interfaces, which use stiffer needles that can damage cells in the brain.

The company needs to do trials in humans before it can get Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for general medical use — key...

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Why Netflix keeps cranking up its prices

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Every year, the cost of streaming gets more and more expensive — and just last week, prices started going up again. Netflix announced that all of its tiers would get an immediate price hike for new subscribers, boosting its most expensive plan to $20 per month. It’s the third price increase since 2019.

At $15.50 per month, Netflix’s standard tier now slightly out-prices HBO Max ($15 per month) and the Disney Bundle (which includes ESPN Plus and Hulu for $14 per month), making it one of the most expensive on-demand streaming options among leading services. If you want 4K, it gets even pricier. That’s not an insignificant amount of money, considering people tend to have around four paid streaming subscriptions, according to recent data...

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NYC Mayor Adams will convert his city paycheck to cryptocurrency via Coinbase

NYC Mayor Eric Adams will convert his paycheck into cryptocurrency | Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music

Following through on a plan he announced before he took office, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday that his first paycheck, which arrives on Friday, will be converted from US dollars into cryptocurrency. The transaction will take place on Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, and will convert Adams’ pay into Bitcoin and Ethereum.

“New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” Adams said in a statement. “Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”

Adams tweeted on November 4th that he would take his first three paychecks in...

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Many game developers hate NFTs, too

Ubisoft’s NFTs, pictured here, received a critical reception when they were announced. | Image: Ubisoft

NFTs have been a contentious topic in the video game industry as of late. Fans did not respond well to Ubisoft’s NFT plans, and the outcry to NFTs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl was so vehement that the game’s developers decided to cancel them entirely. But it’s not just video game fans that are skeptical of the new technology; many game developers have similarly strong feelings, according to the Game Developers Conference annual survey, which was released Thursday.

“When asked how they felt about the possibility of cryptocurrency or NFTs in games, a few called it ‘the future of gaming,’” the survey said. “However, a vast majority of respondents spoke out against both practices — noting their potential for scams, overall...

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Google is building an AR headset

Google VP Clay Bavor. | Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Project Iris could see Google go up against Meta and Apple in the coming headset wars

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Messenger Kids’ new internet safety games are mostly teaching kids how to use Messenger

Meta Messenger for Kids is adding new games to teach online safety | Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Facebook parent company Meta has launched new activities on its Messenger Kids platform aimed at teaching internet etiquette to children. According to a blog post by Erik Michael Weitzman, director of product management at Messenger Kids, the new gamified activities will “help kids learn how to use the internet safely and practice making healthy decisions online.”

Pledge Planets is based on what Weitzman says are the tenets of the Messenger Kids Pledge: be kind, be respectful, be safe and have fun. The first episode titled “Be Kind” includes two games that will help kids “learn and practice how to act with kindness,” the company says:

Rough Reviews: Players must help the owner read through the reviews and match the correct online...

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UK company behind Tom Cruise space film unveils plans to launch space movie studio

An animation of the SEE-1 module attached to Axiom’s space station on the ISS. | Image: Axiom/S.E.E.

On Thursday, a UK-based company that claims to be producing Tom Cruise’s upcoming film in space said it plans to attach the first-ever space movie studio and sports arena to the International Space Station as early as 2024.

Called Space Entertainment Enterprise, or S.E.E., the company also announced it is working with commercial space station builder Axiom Space, which has its own partnership with NASA to build and attach an experimental space station to the ISS. That station is called Axiom Station, and Axiom hopes to launch its first module, called Axiom Hub 1, to the ISS by 2024. The company will then build out the space station before eventually separating it from the ISS in 2028 and making it a free-flying vehicle.

S.E.E. plans to...

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Netflix’s Chicken Run sequel will be a three-piece family deal

Aardman / NETFLIX

After years of Chicken Runfans wondering whether the stop-motion classic would ever be back for a sequel, Netflix finally answered last summer with a resounding “yes,” but was tight-lipped about key details like who all might be coming back to reprise their roles and who might not.

Though we’re still a ways out from director Sam Fell’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ premiere, Netflix has just shared a cache of new information about the sequel along with our first look (sort of) at the movie’s central hero. Set some time after the first film, _Dawn of the Nugget_finds Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi) settling into new lives on an idyllic island completely devoid of humans where they feel safe enough to finally start a...

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Many of the best Xbox backward-compatible games are discounted

Microsoft is hosting steep discounts on backward-compatible digital games from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 eras, as it does occasionally. If you agree with the opinion that being able to play older games on the Series X or Series S (or even the Xbox One) is one of their most appealing features, you’ll probably find at least one game that you’ll want to pick up during this sale.

If you haven’t explored the depths of the Xbox backward-compatible game catalog before, it can be daunting. And in case you don’t really have an idea of what might interest you, we’ve pulled a smattering of deals out of the sale to highlight. Notably, these games currently are not available through Game Pass.

Image: Free Radical Design

T...

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Save $250 on iRobot’s poop-avoiding Roomba j7 Plus vacuum

iRobot’s Roomba j7 Plus and its auto-empty base. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Let’s get down to the dirty business of things and keep it professional. Here’s a deal on a robot vacuum that detects doo-doo.

The iRobot Roomba j7 Plus is one of the newest models from the most recognizable brand in the robot vacuum world. It’s currently on sale for $599 ($250 off) at Best Buy, Amazon, and Wellbots. This one has the kinds of fancy features you may come to expect from a fairly expensive robo-vac, like room mapping with keep-out zones, spot cleaning, and automatic bin-emptying. It also has an ace up its sleeve: the ability to detect pet waste and (ideally) not run over it.

Our resident smart home expert and reviewer, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, recently tested the Roomba J7 Plus against the Samsung Jet Bot AI Plus, and the...

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Boost Celero 5G review: budget phone with budget battery life

Boost’s first 5G phone is cheap but unremarkable

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How to get your money back for at-home COVID test kits

Image: USPS

While it’s nice that the government will be sending us four free at-home rapid COVID test kits a month, that’s not going to be enough for many households. However, if you’ve got private insurance through an employer or a group, you do have an alternative: you can get a reimbursement for — or pick up free at approved retailers — up to eight FDA-authorized at-home COVID tests per person per month.

Announced back in January, the new rules state that private health insurers are required to cover these tests without needing approval from a doctor or other medical provider. (If you need more kits, you can also get them covered if it is ordered by a medical provider.) This requirement went into effect on January 15th.

How do you take...

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Craig of the Creek’s getting a spinoff, a new movie, and a fifth season

Cartoon Network

Though the newest season of Cartoon Network’s Craig of the Creekonly just picked back up earlier this week, the network’s already decided that it wants to see much, much more of Craig, the rest of the Johnson family, and the other Creek Kids.

In a move that’s sure to calm fans who can never be certain if and when these shows are coming back, Cartoon Network has just announced that _Craig of the Creek_has been renewed for a fifth season that will continue to follow the adventures of Craig (Philip Solomon), Kelsey (Noël Wells), and J.P. (H. Michael Croner) as they discover new depths of the creek they call a second home.

With a whole new half of the Creek suddenly becoming accessible to Craig and the gang in the show’s last season, Craig...

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Mercedes-Benz acquires stake in lidar maker Luminar, will use its sensors for future autonomous vehicles

EMBARGO: June 15, 2021, 10:30am ET | Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge

Mercedes-Benz announced it will integrate Luminar’s lidar sensors into future production vehicles to enable autonomous driving capabilities.

The German automaker is also taking an equity stake in the Orlando, Florida-based company, acquiring a total of 1.5 million shares. Based on Luminar’s share price of $13.45 at market close January 19th, Mercedes-Benz is purchasing approximately $20.2 million worth of shares, or less than 1 percent of the company.

Lidar, a key ingredient in autonomous driving, is a laser sensor that uses near-infrared light to detect the shapes of objects. This helps autonomous vehicles “see” other objects on the road, like cars, pedestrians, and cyclists, all without the help of GPS or a network connection.

M...

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