Here are some must-have accessories for your new Nintendo Switch

8BitDo’s Pro 2 controller is a win-win, giving you more features for less money.

The Nintendo Switch is one of the world’s best-selling consoles, having shipped more than 100 million units since it launched in 2017. If you’re one of the millions of people that own the hybrid system, odds are you already have everything you need. However, if you’re someone who just recently picked up the console — or you’re currently looking to purchase one in lieu of hard to find consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X — there are a handful of accessories that will make your gaming experience far more enjoyable (and convenient).

Whether you need a controller, case, or pair of headphones, we’ve rounded up the best accessories you can buy to supplement your experience gaming on the Nintendo Switch.

The essentials

Regardless of which...

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What an NFL coaching scandal can teach tech about diversity

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Tackling tech’s diversity problem with Bärí Williams

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Virgin Galactic plans to open ticket sales to the public for flights to edge of space

Virgin Galactic’s_VSS Unity_gliding to a runway | Image: Virgin Galactic

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced its plans to open up ticket sales to the general public on Wednesday, February 15th, giving people an opportunity to buy a ride on the venture’s spaceplane that takes customers to the edge of space and back.

Tickets will run interested customers a cool $450,000. In order to secure their seat, people must pay a $150,000 deposit and then pay the remaining $300,000 before flight. Virgin Galactic has an application that individuals can fill out on the company’s website.

Tickets will run interested customers a cool $450,000

Ticket sales may be opening soon, but it could be a while before customers get the chance to fly. Virgin Galactic successfully flew its founder, billionaire Richard Branson,...

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Microsoft Teams now has new 3D emoji

Microsoft Teams is getting new 3D emoji today. The software giant has started refreshing its more than 1,800 emoji in Microsoft Teams with new Fluent design ones. The 3D emoji design is available in preview today in Teams, and it’s the same as Microsoft announced last year for both Windows and Teams.

While Microsoft Teams is getting new 3D emoji, Microsoft has only launched 2D versions in Windows 11 and recently hinted that it’s still working on 3D emoji for Windows.

“Users will see a new take on most of the previous Teams emojis, along with some new picks,” explains Kaushal Mehta, a member of Microsoft Teams’ engineering team, in a blog post. “All skintone-enabled emojis will continue to have 6 skintone options.”

I...

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Intel buys Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion so it can make more chips for other companies

Intel has announced that it’s buying Tower Semiconductor, an Israeli chipmaking company that focuses on specialty products like radio frequency (RF) chips, CMOS image sensors, and power management parts, for $5.4 billion.

The deal is specifically intended to bolster the company’s fledgling Intel Foundry Service division, which Intel created last year to apply its chipmaking techniques and manufacturing facilities to build chips for other third-party companies. Once the deal closes, the goal is that Tower and IFS will be integrated together as a “fully integrated foundry business.”

Intel has made no bones about its plans to rapidly ramp up production capabilities, with recent news of a $20 billion investment to expand its existing...

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Audio-Technica’s new $200 earbuds promise an impressive 20 hours of battery life

Image by Audio-Technica

Audio-Technica’s new pair of wireless earbuds (ATH-CKS50TW) cost $200 and stand out by claiming to have impressive battery life, offering up to 20 hours of audio playback and 15 hours when using the buds’ active noise cancellation feature. With the charging case, Audio-Technica says battery life can reach up to 50 hours.

Image by Audio-Technica

At $200 (£149.99 / €169), these earbuds certainly aren’t cheap. Other earbuds in this price range offer noise-cancellation but still fall short of Audio-Technica’s estimated battery life. For reference, the Beats Fit Pro offer six hours of continuous playback with noise cancellation, while Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro and Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earphones both promise five hours of...

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The New York Times has changed Wordle’s solutions

Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Wordle’s acquisition by The New York Times has already stirred up controversy, from broken streaks to accusations the game has become harder. But here’s a big change the NYT isn’t shouting about: it’s altered Wordle’s solutions. As of today, February 15th (game number 241), the New York Times version of Wordle and the original version hosted at powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle have diverged and will now continue forever out of step.

The New York Times told publications “nothing has changed”

Changes to Wordle’s word list by the NYT were spotted last week by a number of sources, including BoingBoing. Although some thought these changes only applied to the words you could guess, it turns out the Times also altered the list of possible solutions....

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Lego’s latest video game collaboration is a fantastic looking Horizon Forbidden West set

Lego is teaming up with Guerrilla Games on a Horizon Forbidden West set, which transforms the overgrown wildernesses and robotic dinosaurs of the games into a new, Lego form.

The 1,222 piece set includes an Aloy minifigure (of course), along with a brick-built version of the velociraptor-like Watcher robots, along with the star of the set: a massive Tallneck machine that stands 13 and a half inches tall. Lego notes that it created a new, custom headpiece for Aloy that includes her Focus accessory, in addition to creating a Lego version of her spear (sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a bow included.)

A closeup of Aloy and a Watcher, with the massive Tallneck hulking behind them.

_Horizon’_s multi-layered, armor-covered...

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Fortnite gets gyro controls and flick stick on PS4, PS5, and PC

Epic Games is bringing gyro-based motion controls for _Fortnite_to the PS4, PS5, and PC today. Gyro controls have existed on the Nintendo Switch and Android previously, and this new expansion to PlayStation and PC includes more robust gyro controls and a new flick stick option.

Gyro controls allow you to control the camera in _Fortnite_by simply turning your controller. That means you can couple gyro controls with traditional stick aiming to improve precision and movement throughout Fortnite. Epic Games has also worked with flick stick creator Julian “Jibb” Smart to add more gyro controls and the flick stick option that will quickly flick the camera to a certain direction with mouse-like speed.

There are now separate combat and building...

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This 5G neckband from Motorola could make XR glasses less bulky

The neckband looks a lot like a plastic lanyard. | Image: Motorola

Motorola has a new wearable 5G neckband that is designed to power lightweight VR and AR headsets (collectively known as XR headsets) such as parent company Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 smart glasses, the company announced today. The neckband looks a lot like a large plastic lanyard, and is equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 5,000mAh battery, a touchpad, SIM card slot, speakers, and a range of sensors including a gyroscope and accelerometer, Engadget reports. Motorola says it’s partnered with Verizon on the neckband, which is able to connect to the carrier’s mmWave 5G network.

The idea is that the neckband, which Motorola doesn’t provide an official product name for, will be able to act as the brains and brawn for a connected VR...

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The OM System OM-1 is a post-Olympus flagship camera

OM Digital Solutions, the new company formed after Olympus sold off its camera business to a Japanese investment fund, has announced its first camera. The OM System OM-1 is a flagship Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera that serves as a successor to previous high-end Olympus models like the O-MD E-M1 Mark III.

The OM-1 name will be a familiar one to Olympus shooters — a 35mm SLR camera with the same name launched the OM line in 1972. The new OM System OM-1 still has the Olympus name on the body, though the company tells DPreview that this is likely to be the last model where that’s the case.

The OM-1 has a new 20-megapixel stacked CMOS sensor and an upgraded processor that lets it shoot stills at 50 frames per second with autofocus and...

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Godzilla and Evangelion are forming a new Japanese cinematic universe

Japanese industry titans are teaming up for a new cinematic universe based on iconic properties. Toho, Toei, Khara, and Tsuburaya Productions have announced the upcoming launch of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, which will include representation from the Godzilla, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Evangelion franchises.

Toho is the company that created Godzilla, Toei is behind Kamen Rider, Tsuburaya produces Ultraman, and Khara is the animation studio founded by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno. Tsuburaya Productions’ founder, the late tokusatsu special effects pioneer Eiji Tsuburaya, did effects work for movies in both the Godzilla and Ultraman series.

Toho released the Anno-directed _Shin Godzilla_in 2016, and Anno...

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Here are the best iPad deals right now

Select iPad models go on sale quite regularly. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

We saw some of the best iPad deals of the last year during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but if you missed out, there are still a couple of decent discounts available. Whether you’re after the high-end iPad Pro or the most affordable Apple tablet, the entry-level iPad, there’s a sale going on somewhere you may be interested in.

Of course, it’s difficult to know exactly where you can find the most notable deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s often what our deal hunters at _The Verge_are doing each and every day, so let us help you out. Below, we’ve listed the best deals available on each iPad model that is currently available, some of which are outgoing models with freshly introduced replacements....

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Judge orders the release of alleged Bitcoin launderer Razzlekhan on bail

Heather Morgan will have to follow several conditions while awaiting trial. | Image: Razzlekhan

On Monday, a judge ruled that Heather Morgan, aka Razzlekhan, should be released on bail after she and her husband were arrested for allegedly helping to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen Bitcoin. Morgan and her husband Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein were already granted bail last week by another judge, but the government got an emergency stay on the previous order, saying that the couple could potentially use millions of dollars worth of un-seized Bitcoin to flee the country.

Monday’s hearing took place to review the release order and consider further prosecution and defense evidence. You can read both of the written arguments below, which largely reflect what the parties argued in court. The presiding judge decided that Morgan...

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This DIY ultracompact computer has a mechanical keyboard

The Penkesu custom handheld computer | Image: Penk Chen via GitHub

There aren’t a lot of ultra-portable handheld PCs anymore, outside of the GDP pocket and its gaming-focused successors. With tablets, smartphones, and even handhelds like the Steam Deck diluting the marketable needs of owning a laptop, there isn’t much space for mini laptops beyond the simple joy of owning a fun-sized version of a traditional computer.

But that’s not stopping DIY-er Penk Chen from building their own handheld PC called the Penkesu — a retro-futuristic ultraportable laptop with a mechanical keyboard. It could very well have existed as a working sci-fi movie prop in the ’90s or an R&B video plot device in 2002.

Hacker voice: I’m in pic.twitter.com/CA7jxTMnhe

— Penk Chen (@penk) February 13, 2022

The case for the...

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Android 13 preview shows how Pixel phones could stream apps to your PC

Android might stream apps to your computer. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Google’s January outline revealed plans to spend 2022 trying to make the Android and Chrome OS experience match Apple’s ecosystem integrations, including a feature that would mirror a messaging app from your Android phone on your Chromebook. Thanks to 9to5Google, which did some digging in the recently-released Android 13 developer preview, we might have an early look at what that feature will look like.

Image: Google

Google first outlined the mirroring featurein January.

Based on what 9to5Google found, it appears that Google will essentially enable streaming apps to your computer. And the feature might end up working on non-Chrome OS computers, too, as 9to5Google says it used the web app involved on both...

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Cryptocurrency’s big Super Bowl ads sold FOMO, not the future

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Super Bowl LVI may have been the first crypto bowl.

It’s not that cryptocurrency-related ads completely overwhelmed the Super Bowl commercial breaks to the exclusion of all other advertisements. In fact, there were more ads for the Super Bowl’s more traditional fare of booze, cars, and movie trailers than there were crypto commercials.

But cryptocurrency made a splash at the Super Bowl — one of the most-watched and highest-profile advertising events on the year — in a bid to try and win over mainstream customers (in addition to a largely young and male minority that’s embraced digital currency so far.) But despite the hype, none of the cryptocurrency commercials at the big game made any attempt to actually sell people on anything other...

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Instagram Stories are getting likes so you can respond without sending a DM

The feature is rolling out now. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Instagram is rolling out a new feature it calls Private Story Likes, which lets you like somebody’s Insta Story without sending them a DM. Previously, any response you sent to someone about a Story — whether it was an emoji or a full-on message — showed up as a response in their DM inbox; with this new feature, you can show some appreciation for a Story without clogging up the user’s DMs.

“So now, as you go through Stories, between send message and that little paper airplane, there will be a heart icon,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video. “And if you tap on it, it’ll send the author of that story a like, and that like will show up in the viewer sheet, not in your DM thread with them.”

❤️ Private Story Likes ❤️

Starting to...

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Funding site linked to Canadian trucker protest hacked, donor info leaked online

Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images

GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding website that was being used to source donations for the “Freedom Convoy” protest mounted by Canadian truckers, has been taken offline in an apparent hack and information about alleged donors leaked online.

On Sunday night, the GiveSendGo domain began to redirect to a new domain — GiveSendGone[.]wtf — and show a video loop from Disney’s Frozen, as first noted byDaily Dot journalist Mikael Thalen. The video was accompanied by text criticizing the fundraising site and linking it to the January 6th insurrection in the US.

Here is the first half of the video uploaded by hackers who targeted the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo.pic.twitter.com/uisu2xjG2U

— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) February 14, 2022

G...

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Verizon’s experiencing a state-wide outage in Georgia

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Verizon confirmed it is experiencing a major outage that appears to be affecting Georgia and small pockets of Florida, according to a report from local news site WTXL Tallahassee. Wireless customers report they can’t make calls, connect to data service, or send and receive text messages. According to a chart from Down Detector, reports of connectivity problems started around 2PM ET, with issues mostly reported in Georgia.

Screenshot: Downdetector

Outages are mainly affecting customers in Georgia.

“We are aware of network disruptions impacting some customers in parts of Georgia,” Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz told The Verge. “Our engineers are working to quickly identify and resolve this issue.”

It’s unclear...

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Here are the best Amazon Echo deals right now

The Echo Show 5 (left), Echo Show 8 (middle), and the Echo Show (right). | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon’s current Echo lineup offers a broad selection of smart speakers and displays that can fit just about anywhere in your home. Whether you want to place a voice assistant in every room or want a touchscreen-enabled model to showcase recipes in the kitchen, there's an Echo device for just about every occasion and use case.

Regardless of why you might want one, there’s always a way to save on an Echo device, from the last-gen Echo Dot to Amazon’s latest Echo Show 10. Even when they’re selling for full price, Amazon offers a 25 percent discount when you trade in select devices, meaning there are still other ways to save money when none of the models are on sale.

S

The best Echo Dot deals

Last year, Amazon released the fourth...

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The Cuphead Show is half-full of lukewarm nostalgia plays

Cuphead and Mugman realizing that they’re in danger. | Netflix

Watching The Cuphead Show, Netflix’s new adaptation of the Studio MDHR run-and-gunner featuring two anthropomorphic cup brothers, it’s hard to say who exactly the series is for.

Like the game before it, The Cuphead Show revolves around Cuphead (Tru Valentino) and his brother Mugman (Frank Todaro), two rambunctious talking cups who love each other almost as much as they enjoy beating one another up whenever their kindly guardian, Elder Kettle (Joe Hanna), isn’t watching. Though the boys enjoy getting into all sorts of mischief in and around their tiny cottage, they know that there’s a world of adventure waiting for them on the rest of the Inkwell Isles, where they’re not meant to wander without supervision. It’s during one of the...

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The best Valentine’s Day sales happening now

Right now, you can buy the Beats Studio Buds for $119.95, their second-best price to date, at Amazon and Best Buy. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Today is officially Valentine’s Day in the US, a day meant for expressing love and celebrating romance — or just eating a bunch of candy and chocolate. If you’re a sentimental procrastinator and in need of a last-minute gift, we have some great suggestions for you in our Valentine’s Day gift guide. We’ve also rounded up a wealth of last-minute ideas, which includes digital options and many gifts that are still available for in-store pickup. After all, at this point, anything is better than a bouquet from the gas station down the street.

If you’re in it for yourself, however, or just hoping to score some great deals, as usual, you’re in luck. Some retailers are currently running Valentine’s Day promotions and discounting a number of items...

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Microsoft will fully reopen its headquarters at the end of February

The offices will reopen on February 28th. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft plans to fully reopen its offices in Washington state, where it is headquartered, on February 28th. The company’s reopening plans shifted many times in 2021 before being delayed indefinitely in September, but now Microsoft is committing to a firm date.

High vaccination rates in King County as well as declining hospitalizations and deaths in the state are “part of what enables us to move to this stage of our hybrid work journey,” Chris Capossela, a Microsoft executive vice president and its chief marketing officer, says in a blog post. However, Microsoft isn’t prescribing a blanket requirement for employees to return to the office. Instead, employees will have 30 days from February 28th to “make adjustments to their routines and...

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BlockFi will pay $100 million in a settlement with SEC and states over its interest accounts

Photo by Michele Doying / The Verge

BlockFi, a crypto finance institution, will pay $100 million in penalties to the Securities and Exchange Commission (or SEC) and 32 US states after it settled charges relating to its interest program (via The Block). Regulators say that the company’s BlockFi Interest Accounts, which let users earn returns on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, were unregistered securities and that BlockFi wasn’t properly registered as an investment company.

BlockFi pitched its interest accounts as a way to earn “up to 9.25 percent” interest on crypto deposited into the account, though the percentage varied from month to month and was dependent on how much you had deposited. According to the SEC, because customers were technically lending...

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Best Picture nominee Drive My Car hits HBO Max this March to emotionally ruin you

Actors Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura with the titular car | Cannes Film Festival

If you’re one of those people who wants to see all the Oscar potentials before the awards show, you’re in luck: Drive My Car, a limited release in theaters, comes to HBO Max on March 2nd, Deadline reports.

A critically lauded, three-hour Japanese drama, Drive My Car is the kind of movie often relegated solely to the International Film category. But this year, it took surprising Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.

_Drive My Car_is a quiet movie about grief and how we communicate that — to others, as well as ourselves. So if you’re looking for a gutting and cathartic drama, this is the movie for you. Or maybe you just want to watch someone be driven around in a red Saab for a while....

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Texas is suing Meta over Facebook facial recognition

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Meta over its use of facial recognition. The lawsuit, filed today in state district court, claims Meta’s Facebook photo tagging system violated the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier (CUBI) Act. It’s seeking financial damages and an end to any unauthorized use of Texans’ biometric data.

The CUBI restrictions, which were passed in 2009, require obtaining informed consent before collecting biometric data like facial geometry. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook scanned user photos without asking for permission and downplayed the fact that its automated tagging system amounted to mass biometric data collection. It also echoes an earlier lawsuit’s claim that Instagram scans images for facial...

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Romance scammers collected $139 million in crypto last year

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Romance scammers made off with a total of $139 million in cryptocurrency last year, five times more than the amount stolen in 2020, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Cryptocurrency payments made up the largest fraction of the $547 million lost to scammers in 2021, with victims losing $9,770 in crypto on average.

Some scammers pretend to be “financial experts” who promise to invest their victims’ money

Romance scammers (whom we could probably also call catfishers) often create fake social profiles using pictures taken from the internet, and then trick victims into sending them money, the FTC explains. They may claim to need money for some sort of financial crisis, but even more interestingly, some scammers...

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Construction begins on New York’s first offshore wind farm

Montauk Point, N.Y.: The Block Island wind farm, from Montauk Point, on Long Island, New York on April 16, 2021. | Photo by Mark Harrington/Newsday RM via Getty Images

New York State broke ground on Friday on its first offshore wind farm, kicking off a boom in similar projects aimed at transforming the state’s — and the nation’s — energy mix. The South Fork Wind project off the coast of Long Island is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

New York has the largest pipeline of offshore wind projects underway of any state in the nation, with five in active development. South Fork Wind is being billed as one of the first-ever commercial-scale offshore wind farms in North America. Once completed, it should be able to generate 130 megawatts (MW) of power — enough to power 70,000 homes in nearby East Hampton.

That alone amounts to a major scaling up of offshore wind capacity in the US. The nation so...

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Samsung’s Galaxy S22 phones push Google Messages and the good news of RCS

Samsung’s messaging app is still available, but Google’s is the default. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

A lot more people might be about to start using Rich Communication Services (RCS), the new messaging standard that has had a long and messy rollout, as Google’s Messages app looks to be the new messaging default for newer Samsung devices. While the Galaxy S21 lineup shipped with Samsung Messages by default last year in the US, 9to5Google noticed its Galaxy S22 Plus review unit had Google Messages set as the default when set up from scratch, and that’s the case with The Verge’s Galaxy S22 Ultra review unit as well.

RCS offers many improvements over SMS texting, such as typing indicators, read receipts, and the ability to share higher resolution photos and larger files, but adoption in the US has taken years. Google has largely led the...

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