American Airlines suing The Points Guy over app that syncs frequent flyer data

American Airlines is suing The Points Guy | Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

American Airlines has filed a lawsuit against travel tips site The Points Guy, claiming the site has violated the terms of use of its frequent flyer program by offering an app that lets users track airline miles from multiple airlines in one place. It’s seeking an order blocking The Points Guy from accessing or using American Airlines customer data and from allowing its users to access their own accounts through the TPG app or site. American is also seeking to block The Points Guy from displaying the American Airlines logo and other trademarks.

The TPG app, released in September 2021, purports to “help users learn about points, miles, and loyalty programs, while maximizing their earning potential, and discovering how to efficiently burn...

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Ozzy Osbourne’s NFT project shared a scam link, and followers lost thousands of dollars

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

When a pop-cultural icon like Ozzy Osbourne announces an NFT collection, you can count on the project getting publicity. The launch of the “CryptoBatz” collection, a series of 9,666 digital bats, received coverage in outlets like Billboard, Rolling Stone, NME, Hypebeast, and Business Insider, among others.

But just two days after the tokens were minted, supporters are being targeted by a phishing scam that drains cryptocurrency from their wallets, playing off a bad link shared by the project’s official Twitter account.

Like the majority of NFT projects, CryptoBatz uses Discord as a place to organize its community. The official CryptoBatz Discord is now accessed through the short link discord.gg/cryptobatz. But previously, the project...

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Picard’s first season 2 trailer has Guinan going for it

Paramount Plus

Just when it seemed like Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard might have been ready to bid the galaxy farewell, Star Trek: Picardgave the legendary space explorer a second shot at life that raised some questions about just who and what he is now. While first trailer for Picard’s second season doesn’t directly answer any of them, it brings back one of the few characters perfectly suited to help guide Picard and his allies through this next chapter of their journeys.

Beyond getting the recently resurrected Jean-Luc and his fellow explorers back aboard La Sirena_and in the depths of space they long for, Star Trek: Picard_’s second season is also about to send its heroes into the existential deep in as they embark upon a journey spanning across...

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How to protect your PC from ransomware using Windows’ built-in protection

Illustration by Maria Chimishkyan

Ransomware — malware that prevents you from accessing your files unless you pay the hacker that infected your computer — has been an issue plaguing computer users and businesses for years. Given its prevalence and the fact that a ransomware infection can lead to the loss of valuable files like documents or family pictures, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re protected. Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft has added features to its built-in Windows Security software that can help keep your computer safe from ransomware.

As far as ransomware is concerned, there are two levels to Windows Security. The first consists of malware scans, which are on by default, and which you can learn more about here. While this will work to keep ransomware...

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Nike’s accessible ACG Gaiadome FlyEase Boot will be for athletes only

Nike’s ACG Gaiadome FlyEase Boot feature toggle laces and a zippered back entry. | Image: Nike

For the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, Nike announced Friday that it’s designed inclusive and accessible gear for Team USA Olympians and Paralympians to wear on the medal stand. That includes the new ACG Gaiadome FlyEase Boot, which can be slipped on and secured one-handed. The only issue is it seems to have inherited the FlyEase’s limited availability as well. While the rest of the ‘fit will be available for purchase, the Gaiadome boot will be an athlete exclusive.

“For the official Team USA Medal Stand look in Beijing, we worked closely with the disability community, including current and former winter and summer Paralympians, in our design and testing process, and used inclusive design principles and methods to create gear that...

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Light sensors on wearables struggle with dark skin and obesity

Apple Watch | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Light sensors used to track heart rate in wearable devices like the Apple Watch Series 5 and the Fitbit Versa 2 don’t work as well on darker skin or people with obesity, according to modeling done in a new study.

That’s a problem for features currently built into devices — but it’s also a bad sign for efforts to use light sensors for new applications in wearables, like monitoring blood pressure, says study author Jessica Ramella-Roman, an associate professor studying bioimaging sensors at Florida International University.

“The architecture of the device has to change,” she says.

The study looked at the photoplethysmography (PPG) signal, a technique that uses changes in how light is reflected to measure blood flow, on three wearable...

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1Password has plans to get companies to actually use one password

Digital password manager company 1Password announced this week intentions to expand the login features of its services — starting with something the company calls Universal Sign On that it says can make logging into different websites or services even easier.

1Password already sells subscription services to small and large businesses looking to control and secure access to various passwords amongst staff — and now it looks to make Universal Sign On work alongside multi-factor authentication products like Duo and single sign-on (SSO) products like Okta (depending on what the enterprise needs are).

Protecting you online — it’s in our DNA.

Today, we announce our Series C and our vision for the future of 1Password, to bring human-centric...

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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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The Xbox Series S is on sale at Woot for its lowest price ever

Today only (or while supplies last), you can pick up Microsoft’s next-gen console for just $279.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

While nabbing an Xbox Series S isn’t as difficult as getting your hands on a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X these days, Microsoft’s pearly white console is still in high demand. Currently, Woot is hosting a deal on the Xbox Series S, reducing its regular $299.99 price tag to $279.99. This isn’t a massive discount by any means but it matches the best price we’ve ever seen for this console. The Series S isn’t quite as powerful as the Series X with some of the key distinctions being a lack of a physical disc drive, less storage space, and a less powerful processor. However, the console is still home to fantastic first-party titles like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite, and is compatible with a massive library of last-gen titles, many of...

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I had to see these Hello Kitty gaming accessories, so now you do, too

There are cat ears on the headset. I wish I was joking. | Image: Razer

Razer is known for making some of the best, flashiest gaming gear on the market, from the category-topping Basilisk V3 to the mind-blowingly powerful and portable Razer Blade 14. Today, it’s announcing something, well, slightly different. The company has partnered with Sanrio to release a line of Hello Kitty-themed gaming accessories.

You may think I’m making this up, but alas, I am not. Take a look:

Image: Razer

The gang is all here.

There’s a lot to unpack here. As you can see, we’ve got a mouse, a mousepad, Bluetooth headphones, a chair, and a lumbar cushion. It’s not just the kitty herself featured throughout — other franchise characters, including two who, I’m told, are named Badtz-maru and Keroppi, also...

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The best Chromebook for 2022

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best Chromebook laptop or two-in-one for every Chrome OS fan

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Google denies Facebook collusion claims in new court filing and blog post

Google denies colluding with Facebook in new court filing | Illustration by Alex Castro

Google has filed a motion to dismiss the antitrust complaint filed last week, which alleges it colluded with Facebook to manipulate programmatic ad markets.

“State Plaintiffs’ complaint — cheered on by a handful of Google’s rivals who have failed to invest properly, compete successfully, or innovate consistently — might serve the narrow interests of those rivals,” Google argues in the motion, “but it also threatens to stifle the dynamism that drives Google and other firms to deliver the products on which businesses and consumers depend every day.”

“The complaint misrepresents our business, products, and motives”

Originally filed in November, the antitrust suit has been led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton of Texas and has gradually...

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Employees at Activision studio Raven Software formally organize union

Image: Activision

After five weeks of striking, the QA testers at Raven Software, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, have formed one of the first unions in a AAA game publisher. The union, known as the Game Workers Alliance, was formed in association with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a labor union that represents telecommunications and digital media workers.

Back in December, 12 QA workers were laid off, sparking a walkout at the Call of Duty support studio. Since then, some members of the QA department engaged in a sustained strike at Raven Software, prompting the creation of a GoFundMe to support the striking members.

“We formed the Game Workers Alliance (CWA) because my colleagues and I want to have our voices heard,” said Brent...

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Vergecast: Microsoft to acquire Activision, Google building a headset, and the 5G battle with airlines

Image: Blizzard

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where we discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

The biggest news in tech this week was Microsoft acquiring game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. On today’s Vergecast, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks with games reporter Ash Parrish and senior reporter Alex Heath about the acquisition, the issues behind the culture at Activision Blizzard, and what this means for the gaming space in the future.

The crew also discusses Alex’s scoop this week that Google is building an AR headset, internally codenamed Project Iris, that it hopes to ship in 2024.

Later in the show, _Verge_policy editor Russell...

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The Beats Fit Pro get their first major discount and drop to $153

The Beats Fit Pro come in black, gray, white, and pink. Today’s deal is on the black and white colorways. | Image: Beats

Time and time again, we see Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro wireless earbuds getting frequent discounts and deals. In general, if you want to buy any pair of true wireless earbuds — with active noise cancellation or without — you should be able to find a deal somewhere. One holdout that has been elusive up to now was the Beats Fit Pro. These latest models from Apple-owned Beats came out in late 2021 and surprised us with how good they are — even besting the AirPods Pro in the sound quality department. They have held steady at their $199.99 price point the whole time, but now they finally see a discount of about $50.

Today, you can pick up the Beats Fit Pro on sale from Amazon and Walmart. Amazon has both black and white colorways for...

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Kyocera DuraSport 5G UW review: tough choices

The DuraSport 5G is one of the few rugged options available

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Leak reveals Microsoft’s canceled Windows OS for dual-screen devices

Microsoft was working on a secret “pocketable” Surface device powered by a custom Windows OS before the company turned to Android for its Surface Duo. Codenamed Andromeda, the device appeared in leaked emails, patents, reports, and throughout various references to it in Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Now, Windows Central has obtained an early test version of Andromeda OS running on a Lumia 950 to show just how close Microsoft got to launching a more modern successor to Windows Phone.

While Andromeda OS was never designed to ship on a Lumia 950, some Microsoft engineers used these devices to test parts of the operating system. As is typical for secret device development at many tech companies, not all engineers got access to...

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MSI Creator Z16 review: thin isn’t everything

The Creator Z16 is slim, powerful, and starved for battery

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How Twitter could take NFTs mainstream

Image: Twitter

Today, just four months after announcing it was exploring the idea, Twitter began letting some people use non-fungible tokens as their profile pictures. Subscribers to the $2.99-a-month Twitter Blue service can now connect a crypto wallet, and display any NFTs they own in their profile. These users are easily distinguished from those yet to be crypto-pilled by the shape of their avatars: a hexagon, rather than the traditional circle.

In September, when Twitter first broached the idea, I suggested that the company’s adoption of NFTs could take the technology mainstream. Twitter users already invented the hashtag, the @ mention, and the retweet; by using profile pictures to display their (unauthenticated) NFTs already, I argued, owners of...

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The PlayStation 5 is in stock at Target

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Target has restocked the $499.99 standard PS5 console, and may have the $399.99 Digital Edition available later. Unlike other retailers, Target doesn’t require an account or special subscription to access these restocks, so they’ll be dished out on a first-come, first-serve basis. Additionally, there is no queue system in place on the Target store, so your best best is to continually attempt to add the console to your cart and head to checkout as quickly as you can.

Another potential avenue you could explore is downloading the Target app on your mobile device, which might just give you the edge you need to snag a console.

Don’t stress if you happen to miss out, as retailers generally restock at least once a week. We’re always on the...

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We regret to inform you that Apple now verifies anyone asking for educational discounts

Image: Apple

Apple has introduced a new verification process in the US to ensure that customers who want to benefit from its discounted education pricing are actually involved in education. It’s not clear exactly when its policy changed, but at some point this month, some Reddit users noticed that Apple’s education pricing page was updated to note that customers will now be checked by Unidays, a third-party verification service.

As well as requiring Unidays, Apple is also placing new limits on how many items you can buy with an educational discount. Apple Track reports that users are limited to one desktop computer, one Mac mini, one laptop, two iPads, and two accessories per year. Given that’s more than any student, teacher, or educational staff...

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This controller turns your Android phone into a portable Xbox

A good solution for mobile Game Pass games... or at least some of them

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Intel selects Ohio for ‘largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet’

A render of the planned site. | Image: Intel

Chip manufacturer Intel will spend at least $20 billion on a new chip manufacturing site in New Albany, near Columbus, Ohio, the company announced today. The 1,000-acre location will initially play host to two chip factories, and is set to directly employ at least 3,000 people and “tens of thousands” more across suppliers and partners. Construction is reportedly due to kick off this year, with the site becoming operational in 2025.

In an interview with Time, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company expects the site to become “the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet,” adding that it could eventually expand to 2,000 acres with eight fabs. After helping to establish Silicon Valley, Gelsinger said the new site could become...

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Blizzard boss details what the studio is doing to ‘rebuild your trust’

Blizzard chief Mike Ybarra posted a blog about the changes on Thursday. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of huge franchises like Diablo and Overwatch, has been under intense scrutiny since California sued parent company Activision Blizzard last summer over allegedly fostering a culture of harassment and discrimination. In an attempt to assure employees and fans that the company is making positive changes, Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra published a blog post detailing what it is doing to “rebuild your trust.”

At the top of the list is that executive and management teams will be measured “directly against culture improvement,” which means that their compensation will “depend on our overall success in creating a safe, inclusive, and creative work environment at Blizzard,” Ybarra says.

He also outlined new...

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TikTok is thinking about letting its creators charge subscription fees

TikTok is testing paid subscriptions | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

TikTok confirmed Thursday that it is testing support for paid subscriptions, paving the way for creators on the short form video platform to charge for their content. First reported by The Information, the company didn’t share details about when it might roll out to creators, how many creators are currently testing it, or what the pay structure might look like. Company spokesman Zachary Kizer said in an email to The Verge that the subscriptions were a “concept that’s been in testing,” and that it was “always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” (whatever that means).

If adopted, it would be the latest move by TikTok to help its creators monetize their content; it introduced its C...

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Netflix co-CEO says there will ‘absolutely’ be a second season of Squid Game

Image: Netflix

Hold on to your jumpsuits — Netflix’s wildly popular Squid Game series has been confirmed by the company for a second season.

During its fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos confirmed that the Korean miniseries is returning. Asked by Nidhi Gupta of Fidelity Management and Research whether the viewers would get a second season of Netflix’s most popular series ever, Sarados said there’s more grisly action to come.

“Absolutely,” he responded. “The Squid Game universe has just begun.”

Previously, Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed that the series would return, adding that he was in the “planning process.” Sarandos didn’t elaborate on when the series will return, or what an expanded Squid Game...

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Godzilla and the Titans will reunite in new Apple TV Plus Monsterverse series

Legendary Pictures

Though Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kongmade waves last summer by debuting on HBO Max and quickly becoming one of the platform’s top performing features, the next time we see the titanic monster and his fellow kaiju, they’ll be calling new streamer home: Apple Plus.

On Thursday, Apple Plus announced that it has greenlit a new live-action series set in Legendary’s Monsterverse from co-creators Chris Black (Star Trek: Enterprise) and Matt Fraction, writer of Marvel’s Hawkeyerun that the recent Disney Plus series heavily draws from. Along with Black and Fraction, Toho’s Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita and Safe House Pictures’ Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell are set to executive produce.

Legendary

Legendary’s...

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Congress weighs cleaning up cryptocurrency mining in the US

 The “Sandow Switch” that once was used by the Alcoa coal power plant now provides electricity for the Whinstone US Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, on October 9, 2021.  | Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP /AFP via Getty Images

On Thursday, members of Congress debated how to make cryptocurrencies greener, as energy-intensive bitcoin mining booms in the US. One of the biggest questions was whether to use renewables to power the energy-hungry mining at the heart of bitcoin’s blockchain, or turn to other blockchains that don’t need as much energy in the first place.

The debate took place during an oversight hearing on the “energy impacts of cryptocurrency” held by the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The US became the de facto epicenter for bitcoin mining last year, after China clamped down on mining within its borders — in part because of how much energy bitcoin uses. That transition could have big implications for the already strained power grid in the US, as...

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The IRS will soon make you use facial recognition to access your taxes online

The IRS will use a third party facial recognition company to verify online taxpayers | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Internal Revenue Service will require people who access and pay their taxes online to enroll in a third-party facial recognition company starting this summer (h/t Krebs on Security). Even those who have already registered on IRS.gov with a username and password will have to provide a government ID, a copy of a utility bill, and a selfie to ID.me, the Virginia-based identity verification company. You’ll take a video selfie with whatever webcam or mobile device you’re using to sign up, which seems likely to cause problems for people with older hardware or who don’t have access to one.

According to the IRS, ID.me is a “trusted technology provider” of identity verification services. Anyone who already has an ID.me account from another...

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Netflix stock plunges as company misses growth forecast

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix investors have been worried that the company isn’t adding subscribers fast enough — and today, they started to panic. After Netflix reported lower than projected subscriber additions for the final quarter of 2021, its stock plummeted nearly 20 percent.

The plunge was the lowest the stock had dropped since June of 2020, CNBC noted. Last quarter, Netflix had forecasted that it would report 222.06 million paid subscriptions by the end of last year. Instead, the company reported Thursday that it ended the fourth quarter with 221.84 paid memberships.

“Acquisition growth has not yet re-accelerated to pre-Covid levels”

It’s a small difference, but investors have been worried about Netflix — already one of the biggest streaming companies...

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