Here are the best iPad deals right now

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

While some of the best iPad deals happen around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you can still find plenty of great discounts if you know where to look. Whether you’re after the high-end iPad Pro or the most affordable Apple tablet, the entry-level iPad, there’s likely 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 you can get on each iPad model that is currently available, some of which are outgoing models with freshly introduced replacements.

The...

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The 16-inch HP Omen gaming laptop is its lowest price ever at HP

The 16-inch Omen gaming laptop is getting a deep discount at HP.

We’re heading into the weekend with a bunch of awesome laptop deals. Kicking things off, we have an excellent configuration of the HP Omen 16 gaming laptop. Regularly $1,549.99, you can currently grab this configuration at HP for just $1,259.99 when you use the code 10GAMER2022 at checkout.

The HP Omen 16 has a 16-inch 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and this configuration is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU backed up by an RTX 3070 graphics card. Some additional specs include 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space, which may not last terribly long given how large game install sizes have gotten but should be enough for a handful of your favorite AAA titles.

The Omen 16 also supports a surprising number of connectivity...

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Netflix tried and failed to build fandom with Tudum

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

When news broke of layoffs at the Netflix-owned fan site Tudum last week, responses tended to come in two parts: First, of course, was that it sucked for the workers affected. But also, what even is Tudum?

Launched less than six months ago, Tudum was envisioned as a home for bonus content related to popular Netflix titles, like interviews with stars, news about renewals and trailers, and also bigger, meatier stories that could contextualize shows and films. A former writer who lost their job last week compared Tudum to DVD special features and investments that other companies have made into supplementary material — “a Criterion Collection for normal people,” as they put it.

“It kind of builds on an already existing culture of fandom...

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Ford files patent application for remote engine revving system

Ford is developing a new technology that would allow vehicle owners to rev their engines remotely, perhaps by using a key fob, according to a patent application spotted by 7th Mustang and other Ford enthusiast sites.

The patent was filed on November 3rd, 2020, and published on May 5th, 2022, according to Ford Authority. According to the application, the technology would allow vehicle owners to rev their engines using an “input device operated by the user” and without having to push down on the accelerator. The vehicle’s engine could be engaged “at various distances from the vehicle” — in other words, remotely.

Ford Remote Control Revving Patent US20220137616 by ahawkins8223 on Scribd

This seems like an idea generated almost...

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The Verge’s 2022 Spring Gift Guide

Photo Illustration by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

Fun gift ideas for friends, family, and even yourself

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Sci-fi virtual world EVE Online is getting Microsoft Excel support

EVE Online. | Image: CCP Games

EVE Online, the long-running sci-fi MMO best-known for its sprawling, expensive space battles will soon get... integration with Microsoft Excel. EVE developer CCP Games announced the collaboration with Microsoft today at its annual fanfest event, saying that the Javascript tool would allow players to “seamlessly” transfer data from the game to a spreadsheet in order to “help players access and calculate everything from profit margins to battle strategy.” CCP says more detail on the collaboration will be available later in the year.

Of course, Excel isn’t the only thing the studio announced, though it may be the most surprising. (Though the game did already have a UI-only mode that made it look a lot like a spreadsheet.) Elsewhere, CCP is...

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Vergecast: the future of Apple, Fortnite’s back on iOS, and Sonos’ voice assistant

Tim Cook showcases the billionth iPhone at Apple’s campus on Wednesday. | Image: Apple

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel and editor-at-large David Pierce discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

On today’s episode, Nilay and David spend a while chatting with Tripp Mickle, a New York Times reporter and the author of a new book, titled After Steve: How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul. They talk about the rise of Jony Ive and Tim Cook, the power struggle between the two, and how Apple is grappling with everything from building a car to managing its relationship with the Chinese government.

After that, Verge managing editor Alex Cranz joins the show to talk about Starlink’s new...

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OpenSea’s official Discord compromised in a phishing attack that stole at least $18k worth of NFTs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Around 4:30AM ET on Friday, the official Discord channel for OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, joined the growing list of NFT communities that have exposed participants to phishing attacks.

In this case, a bot made a fake announcement about OpenSea partnering with YouTube, enticing users to click on a “YouTube Genesis Mint Pass” link to snag one of 100 free NFTs with “insane utility” before they’d be gone forever, as well as a few follow-up messages. Blockchain security tracking company PeckShield tagged the URL the attackers linked, “youtubenft[.]art” as a phishing site, which is now unavailable.

While the messages and phishing site are already gone, one person who said they lost NFTs in the incident pointed to this...

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New Windows 11 controller shortcut is a simpler way to launch recent games

The controller bar appears with a press of the Xbox button. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is testing a new feature for Windows 11 that lets you use a controller to launch recently-played games, avoiding the need to use a mouse and keyboard. The feature is called the “controller bar,” and is accessible by pressing the central Xbox button on a controller when you’re not currently in a game. It’s designed to show up to three recently-played games, alongside a selection of game launchers like Steam.

As someone whose gaming PC is permanently plugged into his TV, I can see the feature being very useful for people like me. Currently, even if I’m playing a controller-based game, I first need to use a wireless keyboard and trackpad to launch it from Windows. But in the future I might be able to skip this step, and boot up...

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Whistleblowers claim Facebook’s chaotic Australia news ban was a negotiating tactic

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

When Facebook briefly blocked all news from being posted on its platform in Australia last year, it used an overly broad definition of news publisher that it knew would cause collateral damage, company whistleblowers are alleging. Complaints filed with Australia’s Competition & Consumer Commission and the US Department of Justice allege that the company engaged in “a criminal conspiracy to obtain a thing of value, namely favorable regulatory treatment,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

The news ban was put into place by Facebook last February in protest over a proposed Australian law that would effectively force platform-holders like it and Google to pay news publishers when sharing their content. But the ban was chaotically implemented,...

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SpaceX successfully returns four astronauts from International Space Station

The Dragon capsule carrying Crew-3 is lifted out of the ocean and ontothe Shannon, a recovery vessel. | NASA/SpaceX

Four astronauts successfully returned home to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft today, bringing an end to their six-month-long stay on the International Space Station (ISS). After undocking from the ISS early Thursday morning, the crew dove through Earth’s atmosphere before splashing down underneath parachutes off the coast of Florida at 12:43 AM ET.

And… splashdown! Dragon has safely made it home with precious cargo aboard: four #Crew3 astronauts!

Now they wait for the recovery vehicle, which is named after Shannon Walker, mission specialist for the first crewed @SpaceX mission to the @Space_Station: pic.twitter.com/VDDXdsxkbH

— NASA (@NASA) May 6, 2022

On board the Crew Dragon were three NASA astronauts — Tom Marshburn, Raja...

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Blizzard hires a vice president of culture to fix its culture

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Blizzard last July, saying it “created a culture of ‘constant sexual harassment’ and gender-based discrimination.” The revelations that followed through the rest of the year only served to confirm those assertions, and even as accusations of retaliation continue to roll in, a new set of leaders say they are committed to making changes.

In January, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra wrote about “the work we are doing to rebuild your trust in Blizzard,” and included descriptions of several full-time leadership roles dedicated to changing the culture. It appears that two of the spots have been filled, as Activision Blizzard appointed Kristen Hines as its new chief diversity, equity,...

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WhatsApp rolls out emoji reactions, bigger files, and massive groups

There are limits on which emoji you can use. | Image: WhatsApp

WhatsApp is now rolling out the ability to react to a message with emoji, as well as share files that are up to 2GB in size, a massive jump from the previous 100MB limit. Meta, the company behind WhatsApp, said last month that these features would be coming “soon,” and it seems like today’s the day. The company also announced on Thursday that it’ll be doubling the maximum size of group chats.

When reactions were first announced, Meta said that you’d only be able to use a select few to start out with but that support for “all emojis and skin-tones” would be added in the future.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing many emotions here.

The reactions are a useful feature, which is why other apps like Slack and Telegram...

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Here are some last-minute Mother’s Day gifts that should arrive on time

The new Kindle Paperwhite starts at $99.99 instead of $139.99 at Best Buy and will arrive in time for Mother’s Day if you order today. | Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge

We’re now just days away from Mother’s Day on May 8th, but don’t panic: if you’ve left your gift shopping until the last minute, there are still plenty of great gadgets you can buy that should arrive in time. Even better, many of them are on sale, with a few products like Amazon’s 2021 Kindle Paperwhite and the second-gen Echo Show 8 selling at all-time lows. On top of that, you can even get free shipping, to boot.

Below, we’ve curated a list of gifts for all budgets that should arrive in time for the holiday. And for those who leave shopping until the very last minute (no shame!), we’ve also included a couple of digital gifts that you can buy as late as Mother’s Day.

And if you need more help (or you’d prefer to explore other options...

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The best deals on MacBooks right now

The 2020 MacBook Air, one of the best laptops you can get, is now available at Amazon starting at $949.

With multiple configurations and various models to choose from, finding a deal on an M1-equipped MacBook or Mac Mini is not all that difficult. It’s a slightly different story for the newer MacBook Pros with the beefier M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs, but any bit of savings you can get on the new Pro models is sure to be worthwhile.

Here, we’ll run through the discounts that are currently available for the latest MacBooks, as well as any deals to be had on the Mac Mini. Of course, there are still some lingering discounts available for older, Intel-based configurations — which are compatible with macOS Monterey — but we strongly recommend opting for a newer model now that Apple has introduced its M1 chips across the MacBook Air and Pro lines....

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How to secure your phone before attending a protest

Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Back in June of 2020, when this article was first written, people were taking to the streets to organize for justice and protest against systemic racism and police brutality. Now, nearly two years later, people are again taking to the streets, this time to protest the possibility that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed people the right to terminate their pregnancies. There were protests across the country on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022, when the news hit; there are bound to be more in the coming weeks.

As a result, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit this examination of how you can protect your phone data when attending a protest. Here goes:

Be aware

If you’re attending or even just...

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Amazon’s trying to solve problem of endless streaming content with IMDb games

Amazon is throwing its hat into the ring of companies trying to solve one of streaming TV’s biggest issues: endless amounts of content can make it really difficult to pick something to watch. Its approach uses an IMDb-branded app that’s exclusively available to Fire TV owners, which will let you play a series of games designed to help you pick a movie.

Amazon’s press release mentions three games in the new app: one will “shuffle through movie and series options” and give you three options to choose from. In theory, the limited choice could help cut down on analysis paralysis since you could end up with something like three times fewer options than you would if you opened up Netflix. However, Amazon does note that there's a “deal cards”...

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Apex Legends season 13 pushes teamwork with a new kind of hero and ranked mode changes

‘Newcastle’ | Image: Respawn Entertainment

Over the last few seasons, the developers of Apex Legends have worked on opening up the game, both with a massive new map and adding a temporary game mode that swaps out battle royale action for a more traditional team deathmatch. On May 10th, they’re introducing another new legend to the arena with Newcastle and making changes that might help players focus on teamwork.

Season 13 of Apex Legends carries the title Saviors, which matches Newcastle’s kit of abilities that are about keeping his teammates alive longer to help them win fights. While a slew of leaks in the past few months spoiled some of the surprises, seeing him in action is an entirely different thing. He has a passive ability that is unlike any character we’ve seen before,...

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Google’s changing its performance reviews to waste less time

The number of annual reviews is being cut in half. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is hoping to make its performance reviews less of a burden to employees by making it so they only happen once a year instead of twice a year, requiring less paperwork, and changing the way employees are rated. According to a report from The Information, 47 percent of Google employees didn’t think that their time was well spent with the previous performance review system.

It’s often hard to point to how internal changes can affect end users, but Google, as a company, has a reputation for either pulling the plug on products or letting them wither without getting proper attention. At some point, though, actual humans had to work on those projects — it’s always possible that if employees can focus on their actual jobs instead of...

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How to track your menstrual cycles on a smartwatch

Apple introduced Cycle Tracking on the Series 5. | Photography by Victoria Song / The Verge

Although modern smartwatches and fitness trackers have been around for almost a decade, period tracking didn’t arrive until 2018. These integrations shared familiar features with your standard period-tracking app — but a big difference was that instead of having to pull out your phone, you could view or input data from your wrist. And, because these features were part of a wearable platform, users could see how their health trends correlated to their menstrual cycles in one place.

Tracking your menstrual cycles digitally can be more convenient than having to pull out a physical calendar or inputting dates into a spreadsheet. But before you get started, there are a few things to take into account.

First and foremost, you must acknowledge...

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The looming demise of Roe ties healthcare even more firmly to employers

Even before a leaked Supreme Court opinion threw the future of abortion in the United States into turmoil, major corporations were adding a new benefit for their employees: coverage for abortion and other medical travel.

The latest company to add the benefit was Amazon, which announced earlier this week that it will cover travel costs for employees who have to travel out of state for abortions or other medical procedures. This could make it possible for workers living in states that make abortion illegal to still get the care they need. It’s a potential lifeline for employees — especially if the Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the right to an abortion in the United States and allowing states to criminalize the...

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Google’s latest Nest cameras now work with Amazon Alexa

Good news for smart homes divided: as of this week, the newest Google Nest cameras can now stream to your Amazon Alexa smart displays, including Echo Show devices, Fire TVs, and Fire tablets. Following Amazon’s announcement last week that third-party cameras can take advantage of its new person and package announcement features on Echo smart speakers, Google Nest has updated its languishing Alexa skill to include its latest cameras.

The Google Nest Alexa skill adds the ability to view a live feed and get motion announcements on Echo speakers from the Google Nest Cam (outdoor/indoor, battery), Google Nest Cam (wired, indoor), and Nest Cam with floodlight. It also adds doorbell press notifications and two-way talk to Google’s support for...

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Behold GoldenEye 007 with four screens — dream come true or travesty?

Friends, the moment has arrived: the most influential first-person shooter in gaming history* has transcended the limitations of a single screen. Yes, GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 can now be played without screen cheating because a British museum rigged up $10,000 worth of hardware to give each player their very own screen. It’s all in honor of the game’s 25th anniversary.

4 screen GoldenEye on the original N64 hardware! No screencheating here! …but how?
Come and experience this at our GoldenEye evening, celebrating 25 years of GoldenEye for Nintendo 64: https://t.co/F918hEQ20v pic.twitter.com/05jA82upb8

— Computing History (@computermuseum) May 4, 2022

As my former colleague Andrew Liszewski at Gizmodo points out, this would...

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How to use your iPhone’s Back Tap feature

All recent iPhones — dating back to iPhone 8 — can take advantage of the Back Tap feature. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Back Tap is one of the easiest ways to put an iPhone function you use all the time literally at your fingertips. It is exactly what it sounds like: a way to access different phone features by tapping the back of your phone — kind of like an extra, user-customizable button. It was introduced with iOS 14, and the feature works on devices as old as the iPhone 8, which was launched five years ago — so it’s highly likely that you’ve got a compatible phone.

Here’s how to set up Back Tap. For reference, I followed these steps on an iPhone 13 Pro Max running iOS 15.4.1.

• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap
• Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap to set a custom function for those gestures

Scroll down find Back Tap in...

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Twitter is working on new features, including mixed-media tweets, report shows

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is working on a handful of new features, including the ability to attach photos and videos to the same tweet, according to a report from 9to5Google. The roundup of features in the works includes news things like mixed-media tweets and also updates on previously reported features like Statuses.

Developer Dylan Roussel spotted the mixed-media capability for Twitter Android — currently, you can attach up to four pictures or one video in the same tweet, but not both a still image and video. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The @Twitter Android app also started adding support for mixing medias in tweets (videos and photos in the same tweet) pic.twitter.com/pwfWysPoap

— Dylan Roussel (@evowizz) May 4,...

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What does the future of abortion look like?

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

The danger for many people isn’t medical — it’s legal

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Summer Game Fest is taking E3’s June slot

Image: Summer Game Fest

Summer Game Fest will kick off this year on June 9th at 2PM ET / 11AM PT, with a live show hosted by, as my college Ash Parrish described him, “consummate video game hype-man Geoff Keighley.” According to a press release, the show will be streamed on basically every platform, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Facebook.

After the big premiere show will be Day of the Devs, where indie game developers can show off what they’re working on. As GameSpot notes, developers submit their games for consideration to be included in the show. Like last year, that show is being presented by Iam8bit and Double Fine, the studio behind games like Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, and Broken Age. The SGF website says to “stay tuned” for its announcement of...

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Now you can play Fortnite on your iPhone or Android for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming

Image: Xbox

Ever since Epic Games started its battle with Apple and Google over their app store fees, playing Fortnite on your mobile device has been more difficult, if not impossible. You could try it on iPhone via Nvidia’s GeForce Now but only if you got into a closed beta. But now, Epic Games has decided to partner with the company it spurned — Microsoft — and is putting Fortnite on pretty much anything with a screen for free via the Xbox Cloud Gaming service.

Fortnite is the first free-to-play title to join Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Microsoft says that all you’ll need to play (in the 26 countries where it’s available) is a Microsoft account and internet access for your iOS, iPadOS, Android, or Windows device. It works through your web browser (c...

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Lyft brings carpooling back to more US cities

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Lyft Shared rides, the ride-hail company’s carpooling service, is returning to more US cities this month. The return of carpooling comes as the company struggles to rein in its spending in response to an ongoing driver shortage and high gas prices.

Lyft suspended carpooling in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to help curb the spread of the virus. About 16 months later, shared rides slowly returned to a small number of markets. And now, it’s returning to even more cities. (Uber started bringing its Uber Pool service back to cities last fall.)

In May, Lyft Shared rides will return to five US cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. The company has been operating its carpooling service in Philadelphia...

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House of the Dragon’s latest trailer brings Westeros’ most powerful houses together

Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen. | HBO

Though House Targaryen will still hold much power in HBO’s upcoming House of the Dragon series, the Game of Thrones prequel will also dig into the story of how the family fell from grace after years of existing in a world separate from Westeros’ other classes. In the show’s latest trailer, King Viserys Targaryen, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Prince Daemon Targaryen want nothing more than to further ensure that their family’s control over Wesreros’ other power players remains intact.

But the Targaryen family’s infighting — to say nothing of the inbreeding — creates the perfect opportunity for their conniving rivals from Houses Stark, Velaryon, and Lannisterto make plays for the Iron Throne and destroy the true source of the ruling...

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