The Murena One shows exactly how hard it is to de-Google your smartphone

An Android phone without Google. No Google apps, no Google Play Services, no peppy Google Assistant. No Google surveillance and data snooping, no incessant ad targeting, no feeling like privacy is a pointless exercise. Some companies, like Huawei, have been forced to figure out how to build this kind of device. A few others have tried for the sake of maintaining your privacy and as a way to fight back against the tyranny of Big Tech. None of it has ever really worked.

The team at Murena has been working on de-Googling Android phones for the last few years, starting back in 2017 when Gael Duval created an operating system he originally called Eelo. “Like millions others, I’VE BECOME A PRODUCT OF GOOGLE,” Duval wrote in 2017. He said he...

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iRobot OS is the newest ‘brain’ for your Roomba

iRobot has launched a new operating system for its household robot cleaners | Image: iRobot

The robots are getting smarter. Two years after releasing iRobot Genius Home Intelligence, an AI-powered platform for its robot vacuums and mops, iRobot has announced its new software platform: iRobot OS. This operating system for its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners will take them to the next level, says Colin Angle CEO of iRobot, providing the household bots with a deeper understanding of your home and your habits, so they can clean both harder and smarter.

While at launch the iRobot OS is not immediately adding features to existing products, it is laying the foundation for a larger leap. “The idea of moving from the iRobot Genius to iRobot OS is a declaration that the intelligence of the robot is going to be the primary differentiator of...

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Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go successor leaks via retailer

Externally, the laptop looks very similar to its predecessor. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft looks set to announce an updated version of its compact Surface Laptop Go, if an early retailer listing from Korea is to be believed.

The biggest change with the Surface Laptop Go 2 appears to be its newer 11th-gen Intel CPU (an i5-1135G7), which replaces the 10th-gen model found in the original 2020 laptop. The Go 2 will ship with Windows 11 this time around, and a Google Translate of the retailer page says its webcam will have “improved HD camera performance.” Preorders are set to open on June 2nd, so an official announcement might not be far away. WinFuture previously reported that the laptop could have a starting price of $650.

Otherwise, the new laptop appears to be very similar to its predecessor. It still has a...

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Trucking simulator shelves Russia-themed expansion after Ukraine invasion

Heart of Russia was the game’s next planned DLC. | Image: SCS Software

Euro Truck Simulator 2 has shelved an upcoming Russia-themed expansion pack after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, its developer SCS Software has announced. In a blog post, the Czech Republic-based developer said that it has cancelled the imminent release of the Heart of Russia DLC pack “so that it is not perceived in any way as being in support of or tolerance of the aggression.”

Euro Truck Simulator 2 has become a cult hit since its release in 2012, leading its developer to support it with over half a dozen major pieces of DLC in the years since. These packs have expanded the game’s map and added new countries for players to drive through. When it was officially announced in March 2021, SCS said the Heart of Russia expansion wouldn’t...

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Epic returns to in-person Fortnite competition with a November event

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Epic Games has announced plans to host an in-person Fortnite competition in November, its first major in-person competitive Fortnite event since the Fortnite World Cup in 2019.

The upcoming event, the FNCS Invitational 2022, will take place on November 12th and 13th at the Raleigh Convention Center in North Carolina. “We will be inviting a selection of top FNCS Duos from around the world who will have the opportunity to compete in a single lobby for a share of a $1,000,000 prize pool,” Epic wrote in a blog post bylined by “The Fortnite Team.”

However, the company stresses that player health and safety are “the number one priority for holding any in-person event” and warns that it may have the reschedule the event if “public health...

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Rivian manufacturing executive leaves as part of reorganization

Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge

Rivian’s Charly Mwangi, its executive vice president of manufacturing engineering and a former Tesla exec, is leaving the company as part of a bigger shakeup splitting up parts of the company, according to Bloomberg. “The reorganization calls for splitting the commercial business, which includes delivery vans made for Amazon, from the retail side of the company that produces the R1T plug-in pickup truck and R1S sport-utility vehicle,” Bloomberg reports. The company’s new COO, Frank Klein, will now oversee “many” senior manufacturing and supply chain employees. The Wall Street Journal also reported on the shakeup.

The changes are happening as the company is starting to ramp up production of its in-demand R1T and R1S electric vehicles. In...

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Alleged Pixel 7 prototype hits eBay months ahead of the phone’s official release

A photo of the Pixel 7 prototype. | Image: eBay listing

An alleged prototype of Google’s upcoming Pixel 7 smartphone has been posted on eBay, giving us our first look at the new phone in the wild months ahead of its scheduled fall release (via Android guru Mishaal Rahman).

Google just revealed the phone a few weeks ago at Google I/O, and what we can see in the prototype matches up with what Google has already shown. The distinctive camera bar is back, and this year it’s an aluminum bar with cutouts for the cameras. And the alleged prototype’s casing is a deep black that looks just like one of the colors Google showed off at I/O.

Image: Google

One of Google’s official Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro images — including that deep black.

The eBay listing includes a few photos...

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Oddly enough, The Weather Channel makes for a pretty great streaming service

Mixed reality forecasts are a big part of TWC’s future. | Image: The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel is not trying to win you over by spending big on its version of House of Cards. It’s not bidding on The Office next time it comes up, nor is it interested in NFL games. “Our tentpole is Mother Nature,” says Nora Zimmett, TWC’s chief content officer. “And she’s always delivering weather.”

TWC launched a dedicated streaming service this month. It costs $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, and it is ... well, it’s The Weather Channel. The app’s main screen is an always-on stream that replicates exactly what you’d see on cable. That, Zimmett says, is what viewers were actually looking for. “We looked at our audience and heard, ‘where can I get The Weather Channel if I don’t want to pay $200 a month for a traditional bundle?’”...

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Crimes of the Future is extreme surgery by way of classic film noir

Nikos Nikolopoulos

Welcome to the inner beauty pageant

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DeLorean offers a first look at its gull-winged Alpha 5 EV revival

Image: DeLorean

DeLorean Motor Company has revealed the first images of the Alpha 5 electric vehicle (EV), the brand’s attempt at resurrecting the DeLorean name in an all-electric form. Staying true to the classic ‘80s-era DeLorean known for its appearance in Back to the Future, the Alpha 5 comes with those iconic gull-wing doors and can reach 60mph in about 2.99 seconds (or 88mph in 4.35 seconds, if you’re curious).

Before we dive into the details, it’s worth noting the company behind the Alpha 5 isn’t actually the same one behind the original DeLorean vehicles — that company went defunct in 1982. An unrelated Texas-based company, which supplies replacement parts to the owners of vintage DeLorean vehicles, snapped up the rights to the DeLorean brand...

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The merging of Comixology and Kindle has created a hell I’d like to escape

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

They do not go together like peanut butter and jelly

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Amazon is ending Cloud Cam service and offering owners a free Blink Mini

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Amazon is ending support for its Cloud Cam security camera and offering owners a free Blink Mini to replace it. MacRumors noted the change late last week, and The Verge obtained a copy of an email sent to customers announcing the change. Cloud Cam owners will be able to use their cameras and download video until December 2nd of this year, after which all recordings will be deleted and the hardware will no longer function. Customers with the Cloud Cam Key Edition will also lose the ability to connect to smart locks, although they can get a free fourth-generation Echo to replace the functionality.

“As the number of Alexa smart home devices continues to grow, we are focusing efforts on Ring, Blink, and other technologies that make your home...

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This iPad Mini 6 case offers MagSafe-like charging capability

The Pitaka MagEZ Case Pro comes with a magnetic charging puck that attaches to the back. | Image: Pitaka

If you’ve wanted MagSafe-style convenient charging on an iPad Mini, Pitaka’s latest case is here for you. The new $79 MagEZ Case Pro for the sixth-generation iPad Mini (aka the iPad Mini 6) has magnetic points on the back that pass power through the iPad’s USB-C port when used with the included pad. Or you can use it with the $129 MagEZ Charging Stand, which elevates the tablet and provides a second Qi charging spot in its base for a phone or headphones.

There are some downsides to this approach. Pitaka’s case doesn’t make use of the magnets built into the back of the iPad Mini, and it blocks the USB-C port from access, leaving you with the magnetic pad as the only way to charge the device. Forget about transferring any data over a wired...

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Pixel Tablet could include support for third-party styluses

An early image of Google’s upcoming tablet, released earlier this month. | Image: Google

Google’s upcoming Pixel Tablet might support the cross-manufacturer USI (Universal Stylus Initiative) standard, allowing it to be used with a range of third party styluses, if a recently-discovered entry in the USI’s list of certified products is to be believed. The entry, which we spotted via NuGiz, lists a device from Google with the product name “Tangor” and the model number “Tablet,” which are presumably placeholder names for the Android-powered tablet Google announced earlier this month.

USI is an industry-wide stylus standard that Google joined in 2018. It’s already supported across a range of Chromebooks, allowing them to be used with a variety of styluses from different manufacturers. But while there are plenty of proprietary...

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Apple’s RealityOS for rumored headset appears in trademark application

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

RealityOS — the name Apple is reportedly using for the operating system running on its rumored virtual and augmented reality headset — has appeared in a trademark filing spotted by Parker Ortolani. Bloomberg News was first to report the “reality operating system” branding back in 2017, and references to the name have appeared in Apple’s software.

The trademark application hasn’t officially been filed by Apple, but it’s common practice for large companies to apply for trademarks under one-off company names — like Realityo Systems LLC, in this case — in the state of Delaware for the sole purpose of maintaining anonymity.

The trademark application is the latest evidence that Apple is on the cusp of announcing its long-rumored headset. It...

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For $500, you can buy the Third Sister’s 6.5-foot double-bladed lightsaber

It measures 6.5 feet in length with both blades attached. | Image: Hasbro

Hasbro has designed a lifelike lightsaber just in time for the premiere of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series, one that might be the toymaker’s most ambitious — and expensive — replica yet. The Black Series Reva Force FX Elite Lightsaber costs $499 and measures a total of 6.5 feet long with both blades attached. It’s modeled after the lightsaber wielded by the Third Sister, also known as Reva, a cold and callous Inquisitor set on hunting down Obi-Wan.

Just like the iconic lightsabers we’ve seen held by Inquisitors in past Star Wars series, you can take off one of the blades, as well as remove half of the circle in the center of the lightsaber. There are a number of cool lighting and sound effects that you can activate too, and they work...

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Apple can’t dismiss Cydia’s amended antitrust lawsuit, judge says

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple’s attempt to dismiss an amended antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of Cydia, an app store for jailbroken iPhones, has failed (via Reuters). California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Apple’s motion to dismiss the case on Thursday and is giving the company 21 days to respond to Cydia’s refiled complaint.

Cydia developer Jay Freeman (who also goes by the username Saurik), first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020. The complaint alleges Apple “has wrongfully acquired and maintained monopoly power” in iOS app distribution and payments, ultimately “depriving” third-party app stores of “the ability to compete with the App Store.” Cydia emerged before the Apple App Store even existed, and allowed users to find and...

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iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max could finally get always-on display

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple may finally bring always-on display to the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple could introduce the feature with iOS 16, allowing the iPhone to display a limited amount of information even when it’s locked.

Gurman says the iPhone’s version of always-on mode could work similarly to the way it does with the Apple Watch Series 5 and up — the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will drop the lock screen’s frame rate with always-on mode enabled, letting them conserve energy while the display remains powered on. It’s unclear if the new iPhone will use the same low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display Apple uses in newer Watch models. These low-powered screens play a huge part in...

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II is coming to Switch

Image: Aspyr Media

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) II: The Sith Lords is heading to the Nintendo Switch on June 8th, as announced at this year's Star Wars Celebration event. The sequel to the classic KOTOR RPG is supposed to feature some performance enhancements and resolution upgrades, as well as a Restored Content DLC set to arrive post-launch.

Image: Aspyr Media

As you might’ve guessed, the Restored Content DLC comes with the content that Obsidian Entertainment and Aspyr Media, the game’s developers, left out during their rush to launch the game in 2004. There’s already a fanmade mod for KOTOR II on Steam that restores some of this lost content, but it’s unclear how similar the official DLC will be when it comes out.

Y...

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Twitter Circle is starting to roll out to more users

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter started testing Circle earlier this month with a limited group, and now it looks like it’s starting to roll out to more users (via Android Police). The feature works a lot like Instagram’s Close Friends, as it allows users to send out tweets to a specific group of people rather than all of Twitter.

To check if you have access to Twitter Circle, update your Twitter app or head to Twitter in a web browser. When you start composing a tweet, you’ll see a dropdown menu at the top that reads Everyone. From here, you can choose Twitter Circle to limit your tweet to a select audience, or you can hit Edit to add or remove people from your Circle. Twitter won’t notify users if you add or remove them.

Choose “Twitter...

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The new Ayn Loki handheld runs Windows and starts at $299

The Ayn Loki inherits much of its design from the Ayn Odin. | Image: Ayn

Ayn, the maker of the Odin Android handheld, is releasing a lineup of what it calls the “most affordable” portable Windows gaming consoles yet (via Liliputing). The cheapest of the bunch starts at just $299 — $100 less than the 64GB Steam Deck.

Ayn announced the news in a YouTube video and a series of posts on Instagram, giving us a look at what we can expect for looks, tech specs, and pricing. While the entry-level $299 Loki Mini comes with 64GB of storage and an Intel Alder Lake U chip, the standard Loki handheld has an AMD Ryzen 5 6600U chip with three different storage options: 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB, each costing $499, $599, and $699, respectively. The $799 Loki Max features an upgraded AMD Ryzen 7 6800U chip and 512GB of storage.

...

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Comcast received a patent for this smart speaker design, but will it ever be released?

comcast

Comcast has received a patent for a smart speaker — one with a very unusual design, to say the least (thanks to @SteveDonohue on Twitter for pointing this out). Instead of opting for a spherical shape that comes with the Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod Mini, or even the rounded rectangular look of the Google Nest Audio device, a sketch shows what appears to be a speaker with a sloped top and a wide base.

Online records show that Comcast first filed for the patent last year, but it didn’t get approved until April 2022. As seen in the sketch, the device seems to have playback controls on the side of the speaker, with an additional button and a small stand on the bottom.

Image: Comcast via USPTO

The smart speaker...

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The latest iPad Air with M1 processor and expanded 256GB storage is $70 off

The 2022 iPad Air looks a lot like the 2020 model, but with faster performance. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

It’s officially Memorial Day Weekend. Time to get the grill going, throw some drinks in the cooler, and saddle up for some hot deals. We’ve been covering sales and discounts for Memorial Day all week, and we’ve got some fresh ones for your Saturday.

First off, Apple’s latest iPad Air with expanded 256GB storage is down to $679 at Amazon. This $70 discount is the best price in over a month for this configuration. If you don’t feel that you need the extra storage, the 64GB model is $569.99 (about $30 off) at Amazon and Walmart. Though the 256GB helps ensure you don’t run short on space too quickly.

This latest generation of the iPad Air looks a lot like the previous model from 2020, but it’s been given a big performance boost by borrowing...

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Stranger Things 4’s new monster is made with practical effects, some CG, and lots of lube

Vecna in his natural habitat. | Image: Netflix

Vecna is here to terrorize Hawkins

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How to print from a Chromebook

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

While Google’s Chromebooks are all about online services, sometimes you need a good old-fashioned printout to accompany your digital adventures.

Printing from a Chromebook has gotten a lot easier over the years, but it still isn’t always obvious how to get started or which paths to embrace. Follow this guide, and with any luck, you’ll be churning out paper from your cloud-centric computer in no time.

[Note: unfortunately, the Cloud Print system, which made it a lot easier to print using any cloud-connected device, was relegated to the Google graveyard in 2020. This means that some older printers may not be able to print from a Chromebook, period. Before purchasing a printer, especially a used one, make sure it’s compatible with ChromeOS....

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Go read this look into how the fall of TerraUSD took everything from some stablecoin investors

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The recent collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin caught the crypto market by surprise. For people who saw Terra as a more secure asset compared to other, more openly volatile cryptocurrencies, and invested heavily in the coin or its associated Anchor protocol, they are now dealing with the aftermath as they let go of assets to try and make up for their lost nest eggs.

A report by The Wall Street Journal on Friday told the stories of several of these investors, including one doctor who explained how the fall of TerraUSD is affecting his family’s future.

Keith Baldwin, a 44-year-old surgeon who lives outside New Bedford, Mass., saved $177,000 during the past decade. Last year he took his savings and bought USD Coin, putting it in a...

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Atlanta Apple store workers say ‘intimidation’ has made a fair union vote impossible

It claims the company intimidated workers. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Workers at the Cumberland Mall Apple store will no longer hold a union election in June, according to a report from Bloomberg. The Communications Workers of America (or CWA), the union attempting to organize the store, says it withdrew the request to hold an election because “Apple’s repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act have made a free and fair election impossible.”

The vote, which was scheduled to begin on June 2nd, would’ve been the first union election at a US Apple store had it gone through. Now, that title will go to a store in Maryland, barring that petition also being withdrawn. Workers at the Towson Town Center store are set to start voting in person on June 15th.

The union says Apple intimidated workers and...

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to Fallen Order

During day two of the weekend-long Star Wars Celebration event, we got a first look at the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order, called Jedi: Survivor. It’s expected to launch in 2023 for the PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and PC.

Cal Kestis, who happens to be the galaxy’s least interesting Jedi (especially when Cere Junda is right there), is back, kicking space fascist ass with the help of his extremely cute droid helper BD-1. The Jedi: Fallen Order series follows Cal as he works to rebuild the Jedi after the infamous Order 66. The sequel takes place five years after the original game and is once again described as a “third person, narrative-driven action-adventure game.” Director Stig Asmussen says the sequel will include some next-gen features as...

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Meta rewrites privacy policy but says it won’t collect data in ‘new ways’

Meta’s new Privacy Policy menu | Image: Meta

As it occasionally does, the company formerly known as Facebook has produced a new revision of its Terms of Service and updated its privacy policy. The old Facebook Data Policy is now Meta’s Privacy Policy, rewritten “to make it easier to understand and to reflect the latest products we offer.”

With this revision, Meta “is not collecting, using or sharing your data in new ways based on this policy update and we still do not sell your information,” according to the company. Instead, this update tweaks the language and adds examples to help people understand what each segment is about.

“the status quo is not good for privacy”

After reading through the new policy and comparing it to the old one, this appears to hold up, for better or...

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Diablo Immortal will launch with native voice chat transcription and speech-to-text

Blizzard

Diablo Immortal is hell, literally, but playing it doesn’t have to be. Ahead of the game’s June 2nd release date, the Diablo team at Blizzard talked about some of the accessibility features they’ve built into Diablo Immortal to make hell that works for everyone.

Controller support was something really important to bring to Diablo Immortal.

“You will be able to play Diablo Immortal with controllers on both mobile devices and on PC,” Blizzard wrote in its accessibility blog. “Many controls — including skills, accessing chat, and more — can be remapped from the controller tab of the settings menu.”

In addition to controller support, Blizzard is also sending Diablo Immortal reviewers a Razer Kishi controller that turns your phone into a...

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