Google’s new retro-style font brings back serifs for more comfortable reading

Google has a new version of its Roboto font, and it’s bringing serifs back: the aptly named Roboto Serif, designed in collaboration with Greg Gazdowicz of Commercial Type to create a more readable serif companion to its Roboto Sans typeface.

The new font isn’t just the old Roboto letters with some serifs slapped on, though: rather, each letter was redrawn from scratch to create a font that “thinks about Roboto, but is a new and original design,” according to Google UX manager Rob Giampietro. The new font still uses the same vertical proportions of Roboto Sans, making it possible to mix the serif and sans-serif versions in a single design.

It probably also helps that chunkier, retro-styled serif typefaces are coming back in style in a...

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Google’s Nest Doorbell can’t take the cold

Google Nest camera users have been complaining about cold-weather charging issues. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Has your Google Nest Doorbell been draining its battery faster than normal or stopped working altogether, even when hooked up to your doorbell wires? That’s because it doesn’t like being left out in the cold. A new support page published this week by Google, confirms that Google’s newest smart video doorbell, the Google Nest Doorbell (Battery), and its Google Nest Cam (Battery), can’t charge at temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

The update comes on the heels of complaints by users in the Google Nest forum that their Nest Doorbells were draining their batteries faster than normal this winter, even when hooked up to doorbell wiring to maintain their charge. Cold weather will also affect the batteries in the new Google Nest Cam. But...

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Twitter and Google blocked ads from a medical journal about health and racism

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The medical journal Health Affairs spent years planning its special issue on health and racism, which it published at the beginning of February. The journal wanted to reach new readers by promoting the issue through targeted advertisements on Twitter and YouTube.

That’s why it was so frustrating when Twitter and Google blocked its ads before they could go up, says Patti Sweet, the director of digital strategy at Health Affairs. The journal’s YouTube account was also suspended, which Sweet believes was a result of ads for the special issue. Sweet wrote a blog post outlining that frustration last week, saying she thought the use of the word “racism” was the trigger for the rejections.

But Twitter and Google say the ad rejections didn’t...

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The launch of Trump’s Twitter clone is reportedly delayed until March

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump’s upcoming social network, called Truth Social, is currently listed on the App Store with an “expected” February 21st launch date (Presidents’ Day), but The New York Times reports that the release has been pushed to March.

Based on screenshots on the App Store, Truth Social looks like it will be quite similar to Twitter, which was Trump’s preferred social network before he was permanently banned following the January 6th riots at the US Capitol. Truth Social will be his second attempt at making some kind of new platform; he launched a blog in May, but it was shut down in less than a month. The new app is being made by the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), Trump’s media company helmed by former US...

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The best budget laptop of 2022

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best cheap laptops under $800 from HP, Lenovo, and more.

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EV batteries could complicate recovery of burning cargo ship with thousands of cars

Photo: Portuguese Navy

A bunch of burning lithium-ion batteries could complicate the recovery of the massive, abandoned cargo ship in the Atlantic Ocean containing thousands of Porsches, Volkswagens, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis.

The batteries of an unknown number of electric vehicles have caught fire aboard the ship, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas, which is the nearest port to the ship’s location, told Reuters. It’s unclear at this time whether the batteries are what sparked the fire. Experts in putting out battery fires will be needed to extinguish the blaze.

“The ship is burning from one end to the other... everything is on fire about five meters above the water line,” Reuters quotes Cabeças saying.

“The ship is burning from one end to the...

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Kanye West’s $200 Stem Player will be the only way to get his next album, Donda 2

Photo by Jay Peters / The Verge

Platform-exclusive content is one of the best ways to juice hardware sales, and Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, announced via Instagram that his next album, Donda 2, “will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player. Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube.”

While Ye’s reasoning is separate from other artists who’ve recently spoken out about Spotify’s Joe Rogan situation and the stark difference between his $200 million deal vs. how much it pays them, the conclusion is the same. As he wrote in another post, “Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own. Go to stemplayer.com now to order.”

The album is...

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How to choose a fitness tracker

Photo by Jay Peters / The Verge

There’s more to consider beyond specs and price

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Vergecast: MWC ’22 preview and Spotify’s latest acquisition

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

In today’s episode, Nilay and Dieter, along with managing editor Alex Cranz and reviewer Monica Chin, discuss all the phones, laptops, and GPUs announced and reviewed this week — including Monica’s review of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and some previews of Mobile World Congress 2022.

In the second half of the show, senior reporter Ashley Carman updates the crew with the latest podcast industry news, including Spotify reportedly paying $200 million for Joe Rogan’s podcast and buying two of the most prominent podcast marketing and ad...

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8BitDo’s terrific Pro 2 controller is down to its lowest price at Amazon

The 8BitDo Pro 2 is one of the best controllers you can currently buy for the Nintendo Switch. | Sam Byford / The Verge

The Nintendo Switch is a great console, but its Joy-Con controllers aren’t exactly made for traditionalists looking for a more familiar controller design. Thankfully, there are excellent third-party alternatives like 8BitDo’s Pro 2, which is currently on sale at Amazon for $44.99 instead of $49.99 when you clip the on-page coupon located below the price.

We called the 8BitDo Pro 2 the best Switch controller you can buy when we reviewed it last year, one that takes a cue from the original Super Nintendo controller and offers some added functionality over Nintendo’s Switch Pro Controller. 8BitDo’s Pro 2 lacks some of the features found on Nintendo’s first-party offering — including HD rumble and Amiibo support— but it includes hand grips...

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Eufy’s Dual doorbell proves two eyes on your porch are better than one

With dual cameras and dual motion detection, this camera catches it all — just not fast enough

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Snapchat will let users share their real-time location with friends

Image: Snapchat

Snapchat users will have a new way of keeping tabs on friends. The company announced today it would introduce real-time location sharing, meant to be used as a temporary buddy system while friends and family are en route to a date or headed home, for example.

The feature is similar to the Find My app on iOS, where users who’ve opted in can see and share precise location. The Snapchat setting can be enabled for 15 minutes or a few hours with individual users, and is only available between mutual friends on the app. In order to lower the risk of stalking or being pressured to constantly share location, users can pause sharing without sending the other party a notification, Snapchat says. The feature is off by default and there is no option...

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Xbox Stereo Headset review: wired and worth it

A no-frills gaming headset that works great on anything thanks to its 3.5mm cable

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This Xbox Series X bundle is available at Gamestop for PowerUp Pro members

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If you’re a member of GameStop’s PowerUp Pro Rewards program, you can grab an Xbox Series X bundle if you head down to your local Gamestop. This exclusively in-store event begins when their doors open, and while some GameStop stores don’t open until 11 AM local time, some can open as early as 9 AM, so check the hours of your local participating GameStop to plan accordingly.

The bundle being offered includes the console, a pair of wireless controllers, three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and a $50 GameStop gift card. And while GameStop didn’t reveal the price of the bundle, it should cost around $655, the total of all the accessories when paired with the console.

There are a number of best practices we recommend with every restock,...

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Why Coinbase admitted Apple calls the shots

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Mainstream adoption means being listed in the App Store

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Storm-battered UK unites behind live stream of planes trying desperately to land

A flight trying to land at the London airport. | Screenshot: Big Jet TV

As Storm Eunice batters the walls of my flat in South London, I’m taking solace in the fact that I don’t have to do anything difficult like land a plane on a day like today. So naturally I, along with roughly 180,000 other people, have been gripped by a live stream from London’s Heathrow airport, where Big Jet TV is using a Panasonic HC-VX1 with 24x zoom to show the difficulties pilots are facing as they come in to land against gale-force winds.

Each landing is genuinely hair raising, with aircraft routinely approaching the runway sideways as they’re buffeted by the wind measuring in excess of 60mph. But what would already be an interesting live stream is made fascinating by Big Jet TV’s host, who pivots between knowledgeable...

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The Alien TV show will take place before Ripley

FX chairman announcing the series in 2020. | Screenshot: Disney

FX’s upcoming TV series based on the Alien films will be set on Earth “70-odd years from now” which is before Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley character in the franchise’s timeline, FX chairman John Landgraf tells The Hollywood Reporter.

The show is being headed up by Noah Hawley, who previously won acclaim for his Fargo TV series inspired by the Coen brothers movie of the same name. Filming for the Alien TV show is due to take place after season five of Fargo, which will be filmed “this winter.”

Landgraf previously confirmed that the Alien TV show would be set on Earth when the project was announced in late 2020. But knowing the show’s time period means we can have some fun speculating about how it might tie into the rest of the...

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1,000 Porsches are burning aboard this abandoned cargo ship

The Felicity Ace burning in the middle of the Atlantic. | Photo: Portuguese Navy

A massive, abandoned cargo ship is burning in the Atlantic with 3,965 Volkswagen Group vehicles on board, about a quarter of them from Porsche, according to Bloomberg. Porsche estimates that 1,100 of its vehicles are on board the Felicity Ace, a cargo ship about the size of three football fields. Volkswagen Group is home to brands like Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and VW.

The Felicity Ace was heading from Germany to a port in Rhode Island when it issued distress signals Wednesday morning, reporting a fire in one of its cargo decks. All 22 crew members were successfully evacuated and did not need medical attention, according to a statement by the Portuguese Navy. The owner of the vessel is now developing a plan to recover the...

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Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account

Microsoft Design (Instagram)

Microsoft says it’s planning to update Windows 11 Pro so it will require an internet connection and a Microsoft Account during the initial setup phase. The changes will mirror the same requirements Microsoft originally added to Windows 11 Home last year, meaning you won’t be able to avoid Microsoft Accounts by creating a local user account during setup.

Microsoft has been increasingly pushing Windows users to use a Microsoft Account since Windows 10, and this new change to Windows 11 Pro won’t sit well with many hoping to avoid Microsoft’s data and telemetry gathering in Windows.

This new requirement is coming to Windows 11 Pro soon

“Similar to Windows 11 Home edition, Windows 11 Pro edition now requires internet connectivity during the...

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Parisian car ban now planned for 2024

Paris added many new dedicated bicycles lanes in 2020. | Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images

Paris officials plan to ban private vehicles from the historic heart of the city by early 2024 in a move designed to decrease congestion and improve air quality in the French capital, the city has announced. Targeting 2024 represents a two year delay on the original 2022 timeline, which was announced last May by the city’s mayor, and French presidential hopeful, Anne Hidalgo. The ban is part of a wider push to improve conditions in the city ahead of it hosting the 2024 Olympic Games.

The so-called “tranquil zone” will focus on the city’s first four arrondissements, according to The Local, and includes the city’s two islands on the Seine which host the Notre-Dame cathedral and Sainte-Chapelle. City authorities say that the current plan is...

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Majora’s Mask comes to the Nintendo Switch on Elden Ring launch day

It’s official: you can mark off February 25th in your calendar as a day to spend hours battling enemies and solving puzzles in a twisted fantasy world. What? Elden Ring? No, I’m talking about _The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask._Nintendo has confirmed that the cult classic Zelda game will be added to Nintendo Switch Online’s N64 library next week.

Majora’s Mask was released in 2000 and visually looks similar to its predecessor, the seminal Ocarina of Time. It’s a darker and very different game, however, built around a repeating three-day cycle where Link has to figure out how to save the world from imminent destruction by the moon. A remake for the 3DS, called The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D, was released in 2015.

Nintendo 64 games...

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The best deals on 4K TVs

Several retailers are selling the 55-inch LG C1 OLED TV for $1,296.99 instead of $1,499.99, its lowest price to date. | Image: LG

With CES 2022 having wrapped not too long ago, the future looks bright if you’re looking to nab a great TV deal. Many manufacturers — including LG and Samsung — announced new versions of some of their most popular models during the event, ranging from The Frame to LG’s new C2 lineup. That means we’re probably going to start seeing prices fall on last-gen models as newer models become available throughout the rest of the year.

For those looking to pick up a solid deal before the new models arrive, however, fret not, as there are still some great discounts available. There are currently a number of discounted 4K TVs to choose from, spanning a wide variety of prices, size configurations, and feature sets. Whether you want a secondary TV for...

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Meta’s social VR platform Horizon hits 300,000 users

A clubby experience in Horizon Worlds. | Image: Meta

Facebook has bet its future on virtual reality and the metaverse, rebranding to Meta and spending billions a year to build hardware and software that extends beyond traditional social media. But the company has, at least so far, shared little with the public about how well its early bets are performing.

Meta’s highest-profile bet right now is a social VR platform for the Quest headset called Horizon Worlds. It was recently featured in Meta’s Super Bowl ad, and Zuckerberg called it “core to our metaverse vision” on the company’s most recent earnings call. During a virtual Meta all-hands earlier this week — yes, the Metamates one — the company’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, gave employees a previously unreported update on Horizon’s...

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The best President’s Day sales happening now

Check out discounts on MacBook Pros and other awesome tech | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

We’re approaching President’s Day in the US, and while it was originally established as a holiday to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, the passage of time has transformed it into a day when we distract ourselves from the foibles of our democratically elected leadership by treating ourselves to some of the best deals of the yea.

Whether you’re planning to get a little something for yourself or shopping for someone else, there are plenty of great promotions and sales to take advantage of this weekend. Many products — including the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, LG’s C1 OLED, and Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini — are currently matching their lowest prices ever, while others are just shy of it.

Below, we’ve rounded up the best President’s Day...

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Spotify reportedly paid $200 million for Joe Rogan’s podcast

Photo by Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images

Spotify reportedly paid Joe Rogan at least $200 million to commit to podcasting on the platform exclusively for three and a half years, according to a New York Times report. That number, while astronomical, is double what had previously been reported in The Wall Street Journal as Rogan’s deal price — $100 million — and has continued to be used widely in the media without correction from Spotify’s team.

This news comes after a volatile month for the audio company and one in which musicians, podcasters, employees, and the medical community scrutinized the company’s work with the controversial podcaster. In January, a group of medical community members penned a letter to the company asking it to remove a Rogan episode they said peddled...

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Satellite images show just how ridiculously high the Tonga volcanic plume rose

HUNGA TONGA-HUNGA HA’APAI, TONGA – DECEMBER 24, 2021: In this image 2. of a series created on January 19, 2022, Maxar overview satellite imagery shows the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on December 24, 2021, before the eruption on January 15th , 2022 in Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Islands, Tonga. | Photo by Maxar via Getty Images

The volcanic eruption that rocked the Pacific island nation of Tonga in January was so powerful it blasted ash all the way up to the mesosphere, the third and coldest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Rising 58 kilometers (36 miles) above Earth, the volcanic plume was likely the tallest ever measured by satellite, according to NASA.

NASA was able to measure the plume because two weather satellites happened to be in the right place at the right time. Those satellites took still images and infrared observations that give a play-by-play of the eruption from above.

In just 30 minutes or so following the eruption, ash, steam, and gas from the underwater volcano rose from the surface of the ocean all the way up to the mesosphere. A second blast...

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Savathûn simps savor savage social media shredding

In the lead-up to Destiny 2’s The Witch Queen expansion, players got the chance to interact with Savathûn, the game’s newest villain. In a PR stunt cleverly disguised as Savathûn hijacking the Destiny 2 Twitter account, the titular Witch Queen shot off some fire tweets, excoriating anyone foolish enough to wander into her mentions.

Savathûn started her social media takeover with the tweet, “I am unburdened—hollow, filled only with potential. Weightless. Pure,” which, honestly, is a mood. When the official Xbox account replied somewhat snarkily, Savathûn unleashed all four barrels of The Fourth Horseman, kicking off her short but brilliant Twitter career.

Being flawless is only difficult when you are flawed.

— Destiny 2...

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Smart adaptive headlights are finally coming to the US

Audi RS E-tron GT has an option for the company’s Digital Matrix LED, an Adaptive Driving Beam technology that’s not currently available in the US model. | Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a final ruling this week that permits automakers to finally add Adaptive Driving Beams (ADB) for vehicles on US roads.

Adaptive headlights, available on many vehicles in Europe, Canada, and Japan, have been prohibited in the US due to rigid and outdated federal regulations. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (standard no. 108) specified requirements for lamps and reflectors dating back to 1967, which standardized binary hi / low beams, which as a result stifled newer headlight technology.

But now, after the passage of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill late last year, NHTSA was directed to amend FMVSS no. 108. The agency was given two years to...

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Twitter is bringing pinned DMs to everyone

Keep a DM convo at the top of the list. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is now rolling out pinned DMs, the company announced Thursday. The feature was previously only available to Twitter Blue subscribers, but it’s now coming to everyone on Android, iOS, and the web.

The feature doesn’t seem to be fully rolled out just yet. I have access to it on the iOS app, but not on Twitter’s web app. On the iOS app, you can swipe to the side on a conversation to reveal a pin, and if you tap that, the conversation will be moved to a new “Pinned conversations” section at the top of your DM inbox.

Keep your fave DM convos easily accessible by pinning them! You can now pin up to six conversations that will stay at the top of your DM inbox.

Available on Android, iOS, and web. pic.twitter.com/kIjlzf9XLJ

— Twitter...

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Pour one out for Crucial Ballistix memory — Micron’s killing off the brand

Years ago, one of my PC building buddies swore by Crucial Ballistix memory. I’m pretty sure I bought Corsair Dominator instead. Are people like me why Micron just decided to retire the Ballistix brand for good? Your guess is as good as mine because Crucial ain’t talking, but it’s definitely a thing that just happened. Crucial Ballistix is officially end-of-life, rep Chelsea Garecht confirmed to The Verge, and the company will focus on Micron DDR5 memory and Crucial-brand memory and SSDs instead.

It’s making me all nostalgic for the days when RAM brands seemed to matter.

got any good RAM stories?

There was a time you could theoretically buy worse RAM, or at least RAM from a notably less reputable manufacturer, for your desktop or laptop...

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