US unveils stricter tailpipe emissions standards for new vehicles

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg unveiled stricter fuel economy standards today that he said would save Americans money at the pump, as well as help reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change.

“When these standards take effect, Americans buying a new vehicle will spend less on gas than they would have if we hadn’t taken this step,” Buttigieg said at a Friday news conference in Washington, DC. “We estimate that today’s rule will prevent 5.5 trillion pounds of carbon dioxide from going into our atmosphere between now and 2050.”

By 2026, the average new vehicle in the US will get 49 miles of travel per gallon of gasoline (mpg) under the revised Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, Buttigieg said. The new standards will...

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How to measure heart rate on your smartwatch

The Apple Watch has several heart-related health features. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Modern smartwatches have a wide array of heart-rate monitoring features. That includes passive all-day monitoring as well as spot checks for specific metrics. Some will even alert you if your heart rate suddenly spikes when it shouldn’t. The most advanced devices also have FDA-cleared electrocardiograms that may help detect atrial fibrillation.

These are impressive features considering that, just a decade ago, smartwatches were basically pedometers. In practice, heart rate monitoring can be a helpful tool for people hoping to understand more about their bodies or measure their fitness progress over time. For instance, some athletes prefer to train in heart rate zones — which is hard to do unless you can check it in real time. There have...

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Twitter explores letting two accounts co-author a tweet

An example of what a co-authored tweet could look (though, confusingly, in this example both accounts are the same). | Image: Alessandro Paluzzi / Twitter

Twitter has confirmed it’s “exploring” a new feature that would allow two account to co-author a single tweet, _TechCrunch_reports. App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi has been posting evidence of the feature’s development since at least December, but more recently discovered what appears to be an official dialog box from Twitter about how these tweet collaborations could work.

A co-author feature wouldn’t be a stretch for Twitter, given competitor Instagram has offered something similar since 2021. There are plenty of reasons why two accounts might want to have their names attached to a single post, ranging from brand partnerships, influencer campaigns, or even just sharing credit for a funny post.

ℹ️ You can only invite people who...

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Watch the first Halo episode for free on YouTube

Image: Adrienn Szabo / Paramount Plus

The live-action Halo show on Paramount Plus is already onto its second episode this week, but the first one is now available for free on YouTube. As long as you’re in the US, you can access the first episode of _Halo_on YouTube.

The _Halo_show is nothing like the games, and _Verge_video games reporter Ash Parrish, a self-confessed _Halo_lore hobbyist, says it “offers a far more compelling look at the Master Chief than anything the games have done so far.”

Halo stars Pablo Schreiber of American Gods as Master Chief, Natascha McElhone of Californication as Dr. Halsey, and Jen Taylor, the voice actress for Cortana in the Halo games, as Master Chief’s AI assistant. The show has already been renewed for a second season, and debuted on Paramount...

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Hyper Light Breaker is the new 3D co-op successor to the acclaimed Hyper Light Drifter

Heart Machine, developers of the acclaimed, stylish, and difficult 2D action RPG _Hyper Light Drifter,_have announced a new game set in the same universe: Hyper Light Breaker.

Available via Steam Early Access some time in Spring 2023, Hyper Light Breaker is a 3D title with single player and co-op modes. As per the game’s Steam page, players will:

Enter the Overgrowth, a new land in the world of Hyper Light. Play alone or with friends to explore massive biomes, defeat brutal monsters, create new builds, survive the mysterious Crowns and overthrow the almighty Abyss King in this action rogue-lite adventure from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter.

An announcement trailer only shows a few glimpses of pre-alpha gameplay after an animated...

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Dell partners with Tile to help find lost styluses

Dell’s new stylus in action. | Image: Tile

Dell’s new stylus, the Premier Rechargeable Active Pen, has a neat trick up its sleeve that makes it easier to find when misplaced. It features built-in finding technology provided by Tile, which means you can use the object-tracing company’s app to make the stylus buzz and flash its LED lights to help you find it when it’s nearby. If you lose it further afield, Tile says its app will be able to show its last known location, and use its network to track it down.

The stylus is Tile’s latest foray into building its tracking technology into third-party devices. It’s been working with Intel for a couple of years to help track lost laptops, and says Tile’s tracking network can now help find compatible HP, MSI, and Fujitsu PCs. Its tracking...

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Google Docs will start nudging some users to write less dumbly

Users will have the option of turning the suggestions off. | Image: Google

Google Docs could soon suggest ways to improve the quality of your writing in addition to fixing straightforward grammar and spelling errors, the company has announced. A purple squiggly line will appear under suggestions to help make your writing more concise, inclusive, active, or to warn you away from inappropriate words.

These new Google suggestions have long been available via third-party services like Grammarly, which is able to integrate with Google Docs and aims to help improve the quality of your writing. Depending on the quality of Google’s native suggestions, it could vastly reduce the need for these third-party services. Does it count as “sherlocking” when someone other than Apple does it?

Image: Google ...

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Samsung details how its TVs will become NFT gateways

Don’t mind me, just enjoyingthis NFTin my living room. | Image: Samsung

Samsung is making good on its promise from CES 2022 to bring NFTs to its TVs, by announcing a partnership with NFT auction site Nifty Gateway. In a press release, Nifty Gateway says that it’s “now integrated with Samsung’s NFT platform,” letting you “browse, display, and interact with NFTs” on the company’s “2022 premium TV product lines such as QLED and Neo QLED TV.” Nifty Gateway will also have an app on Samsung’s The Frame and Micro LED TVs.

Basically, you’ll be able to display NFTs on your Samsung TV. And maybe even buy or sell them, according to Decrypt, though it’s worth noting that Nifty Gateway is significantly more strict about who can sell artwork on its platform than OpenSea, the NFT marketplace most people will be familiar...

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Facebook moderators ‘err on the side of an adult’ when uncertain of age in possible abuse photos

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A major responsibility for tech companies is to monitor content on their platforms for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and if any is found, they are legally required to report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Many companies have content moderators in place that review content flagged for potentially being CSAM, and they determine whether the content should be reported to the NCMEC.

However, Facebook has a policy that could mean it is underreporting child sexual abuse content, according to a new report from The New York Times. A Facebook training document directs content moderators to “err on the side of an adult” when they don’t know someone’s age in a photo or video that’s suspected to be CSAM,...

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Apple’s newest subscription service is an IT management package for small businesses

The new Business Essentials app is a portal that can distribute software and company resources. | Image: Apple

The Business Essentials subscription service that Apple announced and introduced in a limited beta late last year is now available for any small business. This is Apple’s vertical integration of device management and cloud storage under the Business Manager platform that companies already use to buy and manage their Apple hardware, which is designed for organizations with fewer than 500 employees. Now that it’s officially launched, it also includes an optional new business tier of AppleCare Plus hardware coverage with 24/7 support and the ability to call an Apple-trained tech onsite in as little as four hours.

The subscription ties traditional IT services into one portal with a rate starting at $2.99 per employee per month. Apple is...

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The best gaming headset deals you can get right now

Logitech’s budget-friendly G435 boasts color and comfort, as well as a host of solid features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A good gaming headset is practically a necessity these days. Clean and precise audio is essential for competitive gaming, allowing you not just to pinpoint your enemies, but to communicate effectively with your teammates. Moreover, recent developments in spatial audio and virtual surround sound have allowed headsets to meet — and occasionally surpass — more expensive audio setups, allowing even the most budget-conscious gamer to obtain a competitive edge at a fraction of the price.

While you could always invest in a massive pair of speakers, they’re likely to earn you the dubious distinction of the worst roommate of the decade. Thankfully, the right headset will allow you to keep the running and gunning to yourself, which is why we’ve...

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The Amazon Bessemer union election is going into overtime

Workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama held their second union vote | Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The votes for the union drive at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, have been counted, but the final result is so close that it will depend on a court hearing yet to come.

The vote count announced on Thursday was 993 against and 875 in favor, with 59 ballots counted as void and 416 counted as challenged. Since the challenged ballots are sufficient to swing the election, the result will depend on a court hearing adjudicating the status of the challenged ballots. That hearing has yet to be scheduled but is likely to take place in the next few weeks. Both parties will also have a chance to file objections to the election over the coming month.

The outcome is far closer than most expected. The union lost the first election last April...

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Uber’s annual product event will focus on travel, sustainability

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Uber will hold its annual product event on May 16th, during which the company will showcase new products, updates, and features focused on travel and sustainability.

It will be Uber’s second product event, after last year’s “Go/Get 2021” gathering presented a host of pandemic-themed announcements, including the ability to book a vaccine appointment in the Uber app. Other features included car rentals, 30-day windows for trip reservations, and multi-stop rides.

“We are excited to introduce our latest innovations at Go/Get 2022,” said Uber’s chief product officer, Sundeep Jain, in a statement. “As the world keeps changing, the Uber team keeps building products to serve consumers’ changing needs. We can’t wait to share what’s next.”

“We...

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Apple fixes iOS battery drain bug with 15.4.1 update

If your battery life has been bad, consider updating. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple has released iOS and iPadOS 15.4.1, an update that fixes some accessibility bugs, improves security, and fixes a battery drain bug that plagued some people’s phones and iPads after they updated to iOS 15.4.

It’s unclear how widespread the issue was (nobody on The Verge’s staff reported notable battery problems), but earlier this month, the Apple Support Twitter account told customers complaining about battery drain that it was “normal for your apps and features to need to adjust up to 48 hours after an update.” Still, over two weeks after the update was released, it’s not hard to find recent posts reporting poor battery life. Hopefully, though, the update will solve those — iOS 15.4 brings the really handy update of being able to...

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E3 2022 is canceled

Illustration by Alex Castro

There will be no E3 this year. In a tweet, Will Powers, PR for gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer, said that he received an email stating the digital event was canceled. IGN initially reported the news, saying they had also independently viewed the email confirming E3’s cancellation.

Just got an email... It's official, E3 digital is official cancelled for 2022. Lots of mixed feelings about this...

— Will Powers NYC (@WillJPowers) March 31, 2022

The video game trade show and marketing event was originally scheduled to be held in person this year. However, in January, E3 was once again shifted from an in-person event to an online-only exhibition due to the pandemic. Now, it seems that the digital event has been completely canceled.

...

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Microsoft: Xbox Minecraft ray tracing preview was a mistake

Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

Microsoft started testing _Minecraft_ray tracing on the Xbox earlier this week, and now the software giant says it was mistake and will be removed. A preview version of _Minecraft_appeared for Xbox testers with optimizations for Xbox Series X / S consoles and the ability to enable ray tracing.

“The previous _Minecraft_Preview build available to Xbox Insiders inadvertently included prototype code for ray tracing support on Xbox consoles,” says the _Minecraft_team in a tweet. “This early prototype code has been removed from Preview and doesn’t signal near future plans to bring raytracing support to consoles.”

The previous Minecraft Preview build available to Xbox Insiders inadvertently included prototype code for raytracing support on Xbox...

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Alexa can now notify you about deals up to a day in advance

The new feature works on fourth generation or newer Echo smart speakers. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon’s Alexa has launched a new feature that will notify Prime customers up to 24 hours in advance about specific discounts, the company announced today. Amazon says the new feature is designed to help customers save money while saving time.

The smart voice assistant will alert Prime members when eligible products in their wish list or shopping cart, or that they’ve marked “saved for later,” are on sale. Customers will then be able to ask Alexa to order the items when the deal is live or send a reminder.

Amazon did not elaborate on exactly what it defines as an “eligible” item or if these deals will also include products sold by third parties.

Only US Amazon Prime customers who own Echo smart speakers that are fourth generation or...

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Dell’s Dual Charge Dock puts a Qi phone charger on a laptop dock for $368.99

Dell’s latest laptop dock adds a little something extra: a Qi wireless charging stand that lets you see and charge your phone while also connecting your laptop to monitors and peripherals (via Ars Technica). The Dual Charge Dock can provide 90W to your computer over USB-C and 12W of power to your phone via the fabric-covered wireless charger.

In a press release, Dell says that the charging coils in the Qi portion of the dock are widely spread out — meaning that you can charge your phone while it’s in portrait or landscape, and you can even use the charger to juice up a pair of wireless earbuds.

Of course, as a dock, it’s also meant to let you plonk your laptop down on a desk, plug in a single cable, and be able to use external displays...

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Morbius is one long quick time event about battling bad habits

Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, the Living Vampire. | Columbia Pictures

Sony’s latest Spider-Man villain feature will drain you

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The Steam Deck just got a dual-touchpad keyboard and some much-needed fixes

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Did I speak too soon? Two days after my one-month check-in with the Steam Deck portable gaming PC, Valve has already addressed a few of the most annoying issues I pointed out.

In a pair of updates, one in the stable channel and one only currently available in beta (full changelogs there), Valve has:

• Added a dual-trackpad keyboard so I can type two letters at a time with my thumbs instead of hunt-and-peck
• Finally added a full-size virtual keyboard to the Linux desktop mode, so you probably don’t need to plug one in (previously, you could only summon the old 2015 dual-trackpad keyboard there, but the new one does touch and gamepad, too)
• Fixed the Wi-Fi so it automatically connects and reconnects without prompting you to re-enter the...

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Facebook’s algorithm was mistakenly elevating harmful content for the last six months

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The social network touts downranking as a way to thwart problematic content, but what happens when that system breaks?

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Go read this Kotaku story about difficult workplace conditions at an Xbox studio

Kotaku_reported on Undead Labs, the developers of the_State of Decay_series._ | Image: Undead Labs

Kotaku has published an extensive article about difficult workplace conditions at Undead Labs, a Microsoft-owned game studio known for the State of Decay series, that you should go read. The article details allegations of sexism at the company and a lack of direction that hurt morale, and it arrives amidst several other recent reports and allegations of challenging workplace conditions at game development studios.

The YouTube channel People Make Games reported on challenges at three well-known indie studios in a video earlier this month. VentureBeat recently published a long article containing allegations that Ori and the Blind Forest developer Moon Studios is an “oppressive” place to work. And as Microsoft is set to acquire mega-studio...

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Overwatch sixth anniversary event offers ‘remixes’ of popular skins

Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch is bringing back some of its most popular seasonal events to celebrate the game’s sixth anniversary. In the Overwatch Anniversary Remix: Volume 1, Overwatch will open its vault, allowing players the chance to participate in the many special events of seasons past and earn “remixed” versions of some of the game’s best skins.

The first week of the anniversary celebration starts on April 5th with the return of the Summer Games event and Overwatch’s _Rocket League-_like game mode Lucioball. If trying to score goals with an oversized soccer ball using nothing but a sound gun wielded by a frog DJ isn’t as appealing to you as it is to me, the next day’s event brings back Halloween Terror and, with it, Overwatch’s very own zombie horde...

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Xbox Game Pass is reportedly getting a family plan

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is reportedly planning to introduce an Xbox Game Pass family plan this year. _Windows Central_reports that Microsoft has been contemplating a family plan for Xbox Game Pass for quite some time and that the company is now in the position to announce one in the “near future.”

The family plan option will reportedly provide access to Xbox Game Pass for five players and will be priced cheaper than the cost for separate accounts. Microsoft will reportedly integrate its Family Account system, which is what the company also uses for its Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions.

Five players will reportedly be able to access an Xbox Game Pass family plan

It’s not clear whether there will be separate family subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass, PC...

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NASA says Russia is still ‘moving toward’ extending the space station through 2030

Despite the United States and Russia’s deteriorating relationship here on Earth, Russia is still considering extending its participation on the International Space Station through 2030, according to NASA. However, it could be a few months before there is a solid update on Russia’s official stance.

NASA and Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, have been the two largest partners on the International Space Station for the last three decades. The two organizations have agreed to work together on the ISS through 2024, but at the end of last year, the Biden administration announced its intentions to extend the space station program through 2030. Russia has not formally agreed to the extension yet.

“we all understand the importance of...

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Genetic sequencing opens new doors — and concerns — for home health testing

Illustration by Ana Kova

At-home health testing company LetsGetChecked has acquired the genetic testing company Veritas Genetics and spinoff Veritas Intercontinental, it announced Tuesday. It’s the latest pivot for a direct-to-consumer genetics company, most of which have spent the past few years struggling to sell DNA test kits to consumers more and more concerned about genetic privacy.

Partnering with an industry like home testing, which grew over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, is one path forward. But that integration could risk conflicts of interest for patients if a companyis incentivized to nudge consumers towards tests based on their genetic information, experts told The Verge. With all of these products on board at one company, genetic...

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Nanoleaf’s colorful LED light bars are on sale for the first time today at Amazon and Best Buy

The Nanoleaf Lines Smarter Kit is currently on sale for $179.99 instead of $199.99. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

If you’re on the market for artistic LED lighting to decorate your home with, Nanoleaf’s new Lines are some of the best lights you can buy. At $200, however, they’re also some of the more expensive. Luckily, you can now get these stunning lights as a part of a starter set for a little less. Regularly $199.99, Nanoleaf’s new Lines Smarter Kit — which includes an adapter and nine Lines you can affix to your wall to display colorful lights in a variety of patterns — is on sale for $179.99 at Amazon and Best Buy.

Unlike Nanoleaf’s other lighting fixtures, these LED light bars are backlit, making them perfect for sticking behind a gaming monitor or TV. There’s also a music visualizer that uses a built-in microphone to pick up on ambient noise...

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Samsung is working on a Galaxy self-repair program with iFixit

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge

Today, Samsung announced a new self-repair program that will give Galaxy customers access to parts, tools, and guides to repair their own devices. The program is in collaboration with popular repair guides and parts website iFixit, which has worked with manufacturers such as Motorola and Steam on similar ventures. The Galaxy S20 and S21 series phones and the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus are first in line for the spare parts — but not Samsung’s latest S22 family of phones.

“We are working with Samsung to improve their repair guide and DIY parts offerings,” iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens tells The Verge. The new program follows Apple’s recent change of heart in announcing a self-service program and Microsoft’s work with iFixit to manufacture Surface tools....

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Instagram will let you reply to DMs directly from your feed

From left to right: reply from feed, the new reshare menu, and online indicators. | Image: Meta

Instagram is giving users a host of new options when sending direct messages (or DMs to you and I) on its platform. The most useful is a new option to quickly reply to a DM directly from your feed without having to go into your inbox and lose your place. There are also new share options as well as the ability to send song previews and conduct polls in group chats.

The platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, announced Instagram’s intention to focus on messaging this year in a video posted at the end of December. “Messaging is one of the primary ways that people — actually it is the primary way people connect online at this point,” Mosseri said. “Instagram needs to embrace the fact that messaging is that primary form of communication.”

...

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Google Meet is getting in-meeting emoji reactions and a picture-in-picture mode

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is announcing a whole bunch of Workspace updates intended to improve virtual collaboration. But as a big fanof emoji, I have to say the new feature I’m most excited about is in-meeting emoji reactions in Google Meet.

With these reactions, you’ll be able to drop emoji like a heart or a thumbs-up to show how you’re feeling during a meeting. The emoji will show up in video tiles or in a list that floats up on the side of your screen. Here’s a GIF from Google that gives an idea of what to expect:

Zoom has a similar feature that I find really useful. It’s a great tool to indicate how I’m feeling about something without having to unmute and disrupt an entire meeting, and I think they’ll be handy in Meet as well. Google...

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