PlayStation accessories and games are discounted for Sony’s Days of Play

Sony’s annual Days of Play usually brings sizable discounts. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony’s annual Days of Play promotion has kicked off once again, offering many quality discounts on PlayStation games and accessories. In the past, this event has even seen the launch of limited edition consoles, but that feels like a distant memory now — much like easily buying a console without an online queue.

The good news is that you can save on some recent releases, like Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, as well as Sony’s first discount across the full line of colorful DualSense controllers. These deals run through June 8th, with some accessory discounts lasting through June 11th or once they sell out. Here are some notable ones most worthy of your money.

Accessories

First up, a product we don’t often see on sale is the Sony...

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Google Docs is getting a big upgrade to formatting

Much easier than the format painter. | Image: Google

Google Docs is getting an absolutely lovely feature that could cut down a lot of busywork when it comes to properly formatting your document: the ability to select multiple sections of text at once. If you’ve got two sentences separated by a heading, or want to apply the same effect to three different words throughout a paragraph, you can now do so by simply selecting the text all at once, and applying your changes.

Selecting multiple text sections is extremely simple: select the first bit of text however you would normally, then press either the Command (⌘) or Control key, depending on whether you’re using a Mac or Windows machine. Keep holding it down, and select the other bits of text you want. After you’ve got everything selected,...

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Twitter will pay $150 million for using people’s security phone numbers to target ads

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Twitter will pay $150 million to settle a privacy lawsuit with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The settlement, announced today, covers a complaint that Twitter deceptively used members’ email addresses and phone numbers for targeted advertising. On top of the fine, Twitter must also accept audits of its data privacy program among other restrictions.

The legal filing claims that Twitter misrepresented its policies to users between 2013 and 2019, violating both the FTC Act and an order from a previous settlement in 2011. The company encouraged users to add a phone number or email address to enable security measures like two-factor authentication. In reality, however, Twitter also incorporated that...

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Sony fixes PlayStation Plus subscription pricing error

Image: Sony

Sony’s correcting what it says was a “technical error” that resulted in users being charged a higher than expected price to upgrade to one of the new PlayStation Plus tiers.

As the revamped subscription service went live in Asia on May 23rd, some users were reporting anyone trying to upgrade from a subscription they’d purchased at a discount was faced with paying back what they’d saved initially, plus the upgrade price for a new tier.

Essentially, in order for consumers to take advantage of the shiny new PlayStation Plus, Sony was gonna get all their money.

There was also a similar situation happening for people who “stacked” PS Now subscriptions. PS Now, which allows streaming of older PlayStation games, currently costs $59.99 per...

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Elon Musk will put up $6 billion to drop Tesla loans from his Twitter deal

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

After a brutal month for Tesla stock, Elon Musk will no longer fund his Twitter buyout by borrowing against his Tesla ownership stake.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk announced the expiration of a series of margin loans against Tesla stock, which had been included as part of his original financing plan to acquire Twitter. As part of the announcement, Musk committed to providing an additional $6.25 billion in equity financing, bringing his total commitment to $33.5 billion.

Tesla has shed more than 30 percent of its value since the Twitter deal was signed

Musk’s initial plan to acquire Twitter involved a combination of $21 billion in personal equity and $25.5 billion in loans. $12.5 billion of those loans...

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Amazon’s first clothing store opens its doors in Los Angeles

Amazon Style in-store shopping app experience | Image: Amazon

Amazon’s brick-and-mortar clothing store, Amazon Style, is now open in the Los Angeles, California-area at The Americana at Brand mall, the company announced today along with a video profiling some of its employees.

It’s a new addition to Amazon’s lineup of physical locations, along with Whole Foods and its cashier-less Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh grocery stores. Amazon Style will feature clothing from brands like Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Champion, and more, and though it does not feature Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, it will have regular employees present to help you from start to finish.

Rumors of Amazon’s “department store” plan surfaced in September, with a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the store would use tech...

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Report: workers delivering Amazon’s packages are injured at a ‘shocking rate’

Operators blame intense quotas and pressure. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Some workers delivering packages for Amazon were more than twice as likely to be injured on the job compared to non-Amazon delivery workers, according to a report from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) advocacy group (via CNBC). The union coalition compiled data submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by Amazon and its contractors and discovered that an estimated 18.3 percent of Amazon’s subcontracted delivery workers were injured seriously enough to be reported.

As the report notes, Amazon deliveries aren’t made entirely by workers that the company directly employs. The SOC says that a large portion of packages are delivered by people working for a Delivery Service Partner (DSP), or a company that...

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Google’s folding phone has reportedly been delayed again

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Although the long-rumored Pixel Watch has finally arrived, there’s still no sign of Google’s mysterious folding phone — and we likely won’t see it for another year. According to reports from Korean industry site The Elec and supply chain analyst Ross Young (via Android Central), the release of Google’s rumored folding phone has been delayed until next spring.

Google was originally expected to reveal the device in 2021, but that prediction was pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2022. This most recent delay could explain why we didn’t see the device at Google I/O earlier this month alongside the brief tease of a future Pixel tablet.

Hearing from multiple sources in their supply chain that the Google foldable launch was delayed till...

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LG turned its 48-inch OLED TV into a huge 4K gaming monitor

Late last year, I plopped a giant 48-inch OLED television on my desk in search of the one screen to rule them all. It was fantastic, with amazing color, inky blacks, G-Sync, and FreeSync Premium on a 120Hz panel — but not exactly suited to be the perfect PC screen. Now, LG is tailoring its television a bit more for desk use with the new LG UltraGear 48GQ900, which adds some of the features I wished I had in that review.

Chief among them: the stand. While the LG C1 48 and LG CX 48 televisions featured a big wide base that discourages any attempt at desktop cable management and blocks the rest of your desk from view, the new UltraGear monitor has a more traditional V-shaped foot that lifts the whole screen off the table.

...

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Big Tech is pouring millions into the wrong climate solution at Davos

Børge Brende, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Geraldine Matchett, Elizabeth Wathuti, and Marc Benioff attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on May 24th, 2022. | Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Alphabet, Microsoft, and Salesforce today pledged $500 million to new climate tech that’s supposed to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to keep it from heating up the planet. It’s the latest move by Big Tech to propel the emerging technology forward while painting themselves as global leaders when it comes to taking action on climate change.

Regardless, these companies have a lot of work left to do to deal with their own emissions. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) isn’t the solution for Big Tech’s own pollution.

To be sure, the climate crisis has gotten so bad that the United Nations’ leading climate experts acknowledge that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels won’t be enough anymore. We’ll also have to find ways to...

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Another live-action Speed Racer is coming to Apple TV Plus with J.J. Abrams behind the wheel

The Mach 6 as it appears in Warner Bros. live-action Speed Racer film. | Image: Warner Bros.

Though it’s only been 14 years since the last live-action adaptation of Speed Racer from a Western production studio, Apple and J. J. Abrams are stepping up to the plate to make another. Variety reports that Apple and Warner Bros. Television Studios are teaming up to produce a new Speed Racer with J. J. Abrams executive producing and Ron Fitzgerald (Westworld) and Hiram Martinez (Snowfall) attached to co-showrun.

Like the 2008 film, the ‘60s anime series, and the original Mach Go Go Go manga they’re all based on, the new Apple TV Plus series will tell the story of Speed, a young race car driver living in the shadow of his (presumably) long-lost brother. While the new Speed Racer has reportedly been in development for some time, there are...

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How to remap your Chromebook’s keyboard

Chromebooks are pretty different from traditional laptops in a lot of ways — and not just because of their software.

The most obvious physical difference? Chromebooks feature keyboards with a variety of Chrome OS-specific functions, which means they don’t have standard keys like F1 or even Caps Lock. Depending on your style of working, that could be a welcome change or a massive pain.

If you aren’t thrilled with that arrangement, though, don’t despair. You can actually remap a fair number of your Chromebook’s keys and dramatically change how you use your device.

To get started, simply head into the Keyboard section of your Chromebook’s settings:

• Click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen.
• Tap the gear-shaped icon in the...

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Apple’s secretive car project loses yet another top executive

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Christopher “CJ” Moore, the former Tesla Autopilot software engineer who left to join Apple’s secretive car project last year, has left Apple to join Luminar, an Orlando, Florida-based lidar company, as its new head of software, the company announced. Moore only lasted seven months at Apple.

Moore is among a group of top executives from other leading companies to join Luminar, which makes the laser sensors that help autonomous vehicles “see” their surrounding environment. But his departure from Apple is yet another indication of the tech giant’s struggles to retain talent for its befuddled efforts to make an autonomous electric car — known as Project Titan.

“We’re attracting the best leaders in the world in their fields to execute our...

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Apple VP discourages retail workers from joining a union in leaked video

“I worry about what it would mean to put another organization in the middle of our relationship.” | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple vice president of people and retail Deirdre O’Brien is explicitly dissuading employees from joining a union in an internal video leaked to The Verge. “I worry about what it would mean to put another organization in the middle of our relationship,” she says. “An organization that does not have a deep understanding of Apple or our business. And most importantly one that I do not believe shares our commitment to you.”

This message comes amid union drives at three of Apple’s retail stores — one in New York, one in Maryland, and one in Georgia. The latter two have set dates to hold elections, which they agreed to with Apple. Workers at the Cumberland Mall Apple store will vote on whether to unionize starting June 2nd, and employees at...

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Lucid Motors issues recall for some Lucid Air EVs over faulty instrument display wiring

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Lucid Motors issued a recall notice for some of its luxury electric sedans for a faulty wiring harness connected to the instrument panel. The recall covers 1,117 model year 2022 Lucid Air sedans of all trim levels. The recall was first reported by Lucid Insider, a blog that covers the EV company.

The recall addresses the possibility that the “wired data connection to the instrument panel may not have been secured properly during assembly,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Lucid is not aware of any instances when these components have failed in a vehicle or caused an interruption to the instrument display panel.”

The extra-long wiring harness, which contains the ethernet wiring for the center and left driver displays, could be damaged...

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How to stream PC games and movies to your Xbox One or Series X / S console with a free app

If you own a Windows 10 or 11 PC and an Xbox One or Series X / S console, you might not be aware that those devices have some interesting cross-functionality. Using Microsoft’s Wireless Display app, you can easily output the games from your Xbox to your Windows PC screen. Conversely, it’s possible to stream what’s on your PC to the TV that you’re using with your Xbox — you can even control it from the console, and setting it up is surprisingly simple.

One note, though: This is a wireless-only feature. Because the app uses Miracast to stream the content from your PC, you’ll need to make sure that both the Windows PC and Xbox One or Series X / S are on the same Wi-Fi network.

How to stream your PC to your Xbox One or Series X / S

Any...

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JBL’s portable Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker is on sale for its best price yet

JBL’s Charge 5 speaker is on sale for less than $150 on Amazon, which is a new record low. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

With Memorial Day less than a week away, summer is officially just around the corner. And if your plans this year involve lounging by the pool or picnicking at the park with friends, why not make things more relaxing with the help of a portable Bluetooth speaker? JBL’s Charge 5 is one of the best despite its mono driver, offering up to 20 hours of battery life and perks like stereo pairing and IP67 water resistance. You also won’t need to fret about your phone or other devices running out of battery life using the Charge 5, since the speaker features a USB-A port for topping off your devices as you listen.

While it doesn’t sound as nice or as detailed as Bose’s SoundLink Flex, our favorite Bluetooth speaker, it’s still good; it’s also a...

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Instacart’s new rating system filters out scores from hard-to-please customers

You just can’t please some people, and Instacart’s new rating system for shoppers acknowledges that. It now automatically filters out ratings from hard-to-please customers who frequently rate their shoppers lower than five stars. Instacart says the new system is designed to promote a “fair experience” for the shoppers tasked with delivering groceries to users’ homes.

Last month, Instacart promised to protect workers from the other type of assholes who bait drivers with large tips and then yank it from them when their order is completed — a level most Karens wouldn’t even stoop to. The company said it would cover the tip up to $10 but would still side with the customer if they reported the worker for some sort of issue.

This most recent...

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Stellantis pleads guilty, will pay $300 million over allegations of emissions fraud

Stellantis, the parent company of Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge, has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conduct and pay $300 million to settle a probe into its effort to illegally conceal the amount of pollution created by its diesel engine vehicles, Reuters reports.

The guilty plea will settle a years-long probe by the US Department of Justice into the automaker’s efforts to evade emissions requirements for more than 100,000 older Ram pickup trucks and Jeep SUVs available in the US.

The plea deal is expected to be revealed next week, Reuters reports. A spokesperson for Stellantis declined to comment. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

The guilty plea will settle a years-long probe by the US Department of...

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The best Xbox controller to buy right now

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Basic, premium, affordable, and customizable — lots to pick from

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What to expect from Star Wars Celebration 2022

Obi-Wan Kenobi starring in... Obi-Wan Kenobi_._ | Image: Lucasfilm

After a three-year hiatus, Star Wars Celebration is back this week — and it looks like it will be packed with plenty of news spanning film, television, and gaming. This year’s edition will include an in-person event at the Anaheim Convention Center. But if you don’t want to brave the crowds, many of the more notable panels and events will also be streamed on the Star Wars YouTube channel as well as the front page of StarWars.com. Here’s what you can expect to see.

The next big movie

Things have been quiet on the theatrical side of Star Wars since The Rise of Skywalker, but we do know there are multiple films in the works with big names like Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi attached. There’s a good...

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NFL Rivals blockchain game will let players take over as their team’s GM and use NFTs somehow

NFL Rivals. | Image: Mythical Games

While we still don’t know exactly what 2K will do with its “non-simulation” NFL license (its arcade-style game is delayed and won’t be released this year), the league is filling that void by announcing a partnership to build its first blockchain game, NFL Rivals. It’s hard to tell exactly what the game will be, but here’s the description:

Delivering on the fantasy of being a team General Manager, this fun, easy to play game will allow NFL fans and gamers alike to compete against other GMs with their assembled player rosters and teams, building, leveling up and improving their lineup. In addition, fans will be able to own, collect and trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of their favorite players through this play-and-own game experience.

T...

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CVS will stop filling Cerebral and Done Health ADHD med prescriptions

Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

CVS pharmacies will no longer fill prescriptions for controlled substances like Adderall from telehealth companies Cerebral and Done Health, The Wall Street Journal reported. It’s the latest blow to Cerebral, which is facing investigations from the US Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Cerebral said last week that it was going to stop prescribing controlled substances to new customers, and would transition existing customers off of the service by the fall. The company told The Wall Street Journal that it was “doing everything possible to ensure these patients get access to medications that their healthcare providers have determined they need.”

Done Health is an ADHD-specific telehealth platform, and like...

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Android 101: how to update Android apps

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

It’s always a good idea to keep your Android apps updated to make sure you have the latest security and bug fixes. Plus, you might be missing out on newly added features.

If you don’t have automatic updates enabled, you’ll have to update your apps manually from the Google Play Store. Here, we’ll show you how to update individual apps as well as how to enable automatic updates.

Keep in mind that not every Android device has the same layout. We created this how-to using a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 running Android 10, so you might have a slightly different experience depending on the device you have.

Updating your apps manually

You can update your apps one by one or all at once from the Google Play Store. Here’s how to do both:

• Head to the...

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Why the company behind Pokémon Go is getting crypto-curious

Niantic

It has been an extremely rough year for cryptocurrency projects, as crashing prices, daily revelations of scams, and the ongoing usability nightmare of blockchain-based computing has left venture capitalists’ next big bet looking more like a pipe dream than anything you could reasonably call “web3.”

Crypto-based video games, which last year looked as if they might attract a big audience to begin collecting non-fungible tokens, have instead drawn collective outrage at perceived developer greed. Game giants have largely been fleeing the space as a result.

And so, with that in mind, today let’s talk about a prominent company that’s going in the other direction.

“I think it’s something that could have the biggest impact on this industry —...

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No Man’s Sky’s newest expedition turns it into a roguelike

Image: Hello Games

Today, No Man’s Sky launches Leviathan, the game’s newest expedition that offers perhaps the most interesting gameplay experience yet.

In the Leviathan launch trailer, a mysterious message splashes across the screen telling the player that “death is not the end” and that they must “re-enter the loop.” If you think that language sounds a little roguelike (heh), you’re right. In Leviathan, Hello Games is putting a little bit of Returnal chocolate in No Man’s Sky’s peanut butter.

In Leviathan, death resets a Traveller’s individual progress, forcing them to start over with a newly generated loadout. However, as the community lives, dies, and repeats, they feed into a global progress goal that awards players higher quality items with each...

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NY State is giving out hundreds of robots as companions for the elderly

The robot in question is ElliQ. Think of it like a more proactive Siri or Alexa. | Image; Intuition Robotics

The state of New York will distribute robot companions to the homes of more than 800 older adults. The robots are not able to help with physical tasks, but function as more proactive versions of digital assistants like Siri or Alexa — engaging users in small talk, helping contact love ones, and keeping track of health goals like exercise and medication.

The scheme is being organized by the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA), and is intended to help address the growing problem of social isolation among the elderly. An estimated 14 million Americans over the age of 65 currently live alone, and this figure is projected to increase over the next decade as the boomer generation ages. Studies have suggested that long-term loneliness...

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The unstoppable machines behind the game console shortage

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Resellers aren’t the problem — their buying bots are

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Ikea overhauls its smart home with new Matter-ready hub and app

The new Home Smart app controlling a Dirigera hub in an Ikea smart home. | Image: Ikea

Dirigera makes Home Smart easier to use and more robust

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YouTube Music now suggests your favorite speaker for playback

The app now suggests which speaker you might like to use. | Screenshot: YouTube Music

YouTube Music will now attempt to suggest which of your Cast-enabled speakers you want to stream music to. It’s a nice upgrade over the previous approach, where the app would simply list all of the Cast-enabled devices on your network in alphabetical order. If you’re anything like us, that could mean having to hunt through a list of half a dozen speakers, even if there’s only one you use on a regular basis.

Now, ChromeUnboxed has spotted that attempting to Cast from the YouTube Music app will bring up a new menu, with a “Suggested” device highlighted above the standard alphabetical list. Google spokesperson Paul Pennington confirmed the new feature in an email to The Verge, and said that suggestions are based upon usage, history, and the...

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