The first US Super Nintendo World is set to open in ‘early’ 2023 with a Mario Kart AR ride

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge | Image: Universal Studios Hollywoord

Universal Studios Hollywood and Nintendo are slowly cranking up the volume about the first Super Nintendo World theme park located in the US. Now, they’re narrowing its opening window to “early” 2023 while posting a few pictures and a video trailer of its signature ride: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.

The augmented reality on rails ride is already a highlight of the experience at Super Nintendo World in Japan, which we visited early last year, offering an interactive experience where riders in four-seat Mario Kart vehicles can steer to collect coins and also throw shells to defeat Team Bowser, which also allows for different outcomes to the ride.

Image: Universal Studios Hollywood

Image: Universal...

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Google’s messy Reminders system just keeps getting messier

Google Tasks briefly looked like the answer to Google’s problem with reminders, but... nope. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google appears to be dropping two features from its Assistant’s reminder-setting capabilities. It’s ditching support for assignable reminders — “remind Anna to bring in the trash cans this morning” — and location-based ones — “remind me to call Becca when I get to the office.” Google didn’t announce either change, instead opting to bury one in a support page and another in a pop-up in the Assistant app. Both features still work but evidently won’t for much longer.

Chalk this one up to the latest in a long, long history of Google doing a terrible job of turning Reminders into an even remotely useful system.

The list of chaotic Google product offerings is long, but I submit that none make less sense than Reminders. You can set reminders in...

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Canadian government slams Tim Hortons for using its app to spy on customers

Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Tim Hortons used its mobile app to collect “vast amounts of location data” from users, including tracking when they visited competing coffee shops, says Canada’s privacy watchdog. Yesterday, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released the results of a 2020 investigation into the coffee and donut chain, demanding it delete any remaining location data and limit future collection. Tim Hortons, the commission says, has agreed to implement the regulations.

The full report outlines a sweeping, invasive attempt to deduce Tim Hortons customers’ behavior in order to target advertising at them — although the company apparently never actually used the data for that purpose. It notes that in May 2019, Tim Hortons updated its mobile app...

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Meta’s head of AI to depart in group reorg

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A day after Sheryl Sandberg announced she is leaving as Meta’s COO later this year, the company is losing another executive amid a reorganization of its artificial intelligence group.

Jerome Pesenti, Meta’s VP of AI for the past four years, will leave later this month as the company closer integrates his AI teams across various product groups rather than have AI function as a centralized organization. AI is already used for everything from ordering what you see when you open Facebook and Instagram to the software powering the Oculus VR headset. The change is meant to “leverage the newest AI technology at scale” across the company, said Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth in a post announcing the reorg.

The AI research team led by Yann LeCun,...

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iPadOS 16 will reportedly include some much-needed multitasking improvements

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference only a few days away, the leaks and rumors are starting to come fast about Apple’s upcoming software plans. And iPad owners may be in for a treat: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that some of the biggest announcements of the year will be for iPadOS 16, including an expansion to the iPad’s multitasking system.

Apple has steadily, if somewhat tepidly, improved the way iPads multitask. As it stands, you can have two windows open side by side, with another in the slide-over view on the side. It works, more or less, but it can be finicky to set up, and it’s not obvious how to move apps around or change their arrangement.

Gurman reports only that iPadOS 16 “will expand upon that interface,” which...

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Netflix is finally taking a page from the rest of Hollywood

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In Q1 of 2022, it finally happened: Netflix had a bad quarter. It lost over 200,000 subscribers and acknowledged that newer competitors like Disney Plus and HBO Max were effectively putting an end to how the company had been doing business for nearly a decade. Now, Netflix is steering away from the frenetic release pace and midsized films that made it a near-critical darling with a new plan to make “bigger movies” at a less “gluttonous pace” according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.

You know, kind of what most of Hollywood is already doing.

A major takeaway from The Hollywood Reporter’s piece is that, while it appears Netflix isn’t exactly sure what it wants to make, it just wants to make it more thoughtfully than it has for...

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Woman receives 3D-printed ear made from her own cells

Illustration by Ana Kova

Doctors successfully transplanted a 3D-printed ear made from human cells onto a woman born with a rare ear deformity, 3DBio Therapeutics, the regenerative medicine company behind the implant announced today in a press release. The transplant was part of the first clinical trial of the technology, and its success marks a major step forward for tissue engineering.

“If everything goes as planned, this will revolutionize the way this is done,” Arturo Bonilla, the ear reconstruction surgeon who led the team performing the procedure, told The New York Times.

Around 1,500 babies born in the United States each year have microtia, a condition where one or both ears are underdeveloped or missing entirely. 3DBio Therapeutics has an ongoing...

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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is coming to Disney Plus on June 22nd

Image: Marvel Studios

The sequel to Doctor Strange will be streaming at the end of the month. Marvel announced today that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be available on Disney Plus starting on June 22nd. The film, which once again stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular sorcerer and is directed by Sam Raimi, first hit theaters on May 6th. My colleague Charles Pulliam-Moore called it “a bloated comic book event in movie form” in his review, but hey, at least now you won’t have to brave any theater lines to check it out.

Of course, there are plenty of other elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney Plus. The debut season of Moon Knight just wrapped up, Ms. Marvel kicks off next week on June 8th, and a She-Hulk series is coming in...

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Paris’ Overwatch and Call of Duty teams are moving to Las Vegas

Image: Blizzard Entertainment

The Overwatch League has its first official team relocation. The Paris Eternal, one of the League’s two European teams, will move to Las Vegas for the 2023 season.

Rumors of a potential relocation started after an eagle-eyed fan noticed that DM-Esports, the company that owns the Eternal and its Call of Duty League sister team, Paris Legion, filed trademarks for Vegas Eternal and Vegas Legion. Shortly after that, both teams confirmed the rumors were true.

Regarding recent rumors... ♥️♠️♦️♣️ pic.twitter.com/if5m5mk3yx

— Paris Eternal (@ParisEternal) June 1, 2022

So... regarding those rumors ♥️♠️♦️♣️... pic.twitter.com/8hRJzLaBlr

— Paris Legion (@ParisLegion) June 1, 2022

This is technically and also not technically the Overwatch...

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Gigabyte’s ray tracing-ready RTX 3070 graphics card isn’t just available, it’s $130 off

The Gigabyte version of the RTX 3070 has triple-fan cooling the company calls Windforce. | Image: Gigabyte

While the chip shortage has touched everything from appliances to cars, one segment of tech that’s seen the most challenges is graphics cards. The latest GPUs have been getting bought up and resold by price gougers since the beginning of the pandemic, but now, after signs began looking up in 2022, we’re getting the occasional deal.

Today sees the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 drop to $599.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. This is a $130 discount off its regular price of $729.99 and is the lowest we’ve seen thus far for this model. Now, that is still a little pricier than the base $499.99 Nvidia RTX 3070, but it’s common for manufacturers like Gigabyte to build off Nvidia’s reference design and enhance the specs — like this card’s Windforce...

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Here are the best AirPods deals you can get right now

Apple’s AirPods Pro wireless earbuds are a go-to pick that’s often on sale. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

If you know where to look, there are often some great discounts available on Apple’s popular — yet oftentimes expensive — AirPods. Since Apple launched the third-gen AirPods in October and unveiled its new lineup, we’ve seen the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level model drop from $159 to $129. What’s more, we’ve seen many retailers starting to heavily discount the second-gen AirPods as well as the more expensive AirPods Pro and Max, which offer noise cancellation and better sound quality than the standard model. We’ve even seen some significant discounts on the third-gen model that, despite lacking the “Pro” moniker, resembles the AirPods Pro more than the long-stemmed original model.

Here, we’ll run through the best deals...

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How to use your smartwatch as a camera remote

The Apple Watch comes with a built-in camera remote app. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Most people think of a smartwatch as a fitness gadget or a way to discreetly view notifications. But did you know that you can also use your smartwatch as a camera remote? Instead of scrambling to beat the timer for your next group photo or selfie, you can instead use your smartwatch to control your phone’s camera shutter.

Some smartwatches, like the Apple Watch, have this feature built in. Others require you to download a separate third-party app. You’ll also need to be within Bluetooth range, since that’s how smartwatches communicate with your phone. This probably won’t be an issue in most scenarios, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re thinking of using this feature on a more ambitious photo project.

In any case, here’s how...

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Ring raised its subscription prices without warning, and users are furious

Want to see your Ring’s video history? It’ll cost you more now. | Image: Ring

Ring announced a handful of new features for its Ring Protect Basic plan this week. Subscribers will get access to 180 days of video (up from 60), some more alert options, and the promise of a lot of “coming soon” features. The catch? It comes at a cost: the price of the Protect Basic plan is going up starting in July, to $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US. (Until now, it has been $3 a month or $30 a year.) Existing customers will see the price jump whenever their subscription renews after that.

For some Ring owners, the increase will be steeper than it sounds. The Protect Basic plan only covers one device, but the next cheapest Ring plan, Protect Plus, covers all your devices and costs $10 a month or $100 a year. For those with...

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Twitter is building a tool for keyword alerts, in case you need more Twitter notifications

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter appears to be working on a feature called “Search Subscribe,” which will let users opt to receive notifications for new tweets matching a search query. The feature was first spotted by developer Dylan Roussel, and appears to put Twitter’s bell notification icon next to the search box in its app. Tap the bell, and you’ll get notifications for new results.

Search Subscribe is only showing up in the Twitter Alpha app for now, so you shouldn’t take this as a sign that it’s imminent or even definitely coming. But it’s an interesting idea, and yet another attempt from Twitter to make it easier for users to find the stuff they’re actually looking for. Right now you can get notifications for individual users, or selectively mute or block...

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Neptune Frost’s radical sci-fi future

Neptune Frost. | Image: Kino Lorber

The Afrofuturist musical from Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman hits theaters on June 3rd

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You can request an invite to buy a PS5 on Amazon

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Amazon is offering a new and more orderly way for shoppers to buy a PS5. You can request an invitation right here on the console’s product page (it’s to the right, where a “buy” button would normally be located), and the company says that if you’re chosen, you’ll receive an e-mail with a link to purchase one within 72 hours. What’s more, you don’t need to be a Prime subscriber to request an invite.

So far, this invite-based system seems to be in place only for the more costly $499.99 version of the PlayStation 5 that features a Blu-ray disc drive, and not the digital version. If you want to boost your chances of getting one (even if you don’t luck out soon), Sony has long offered registrations on a rolling basis to be considered for an...

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Ford announces new Mustang, Ranger, and commercial EV in major Midwest expansion

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Ford announced it will invest $3.7 billion in manufacturing facilities in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri, with the promise to create 6,200 new unionized jobs, as part of a major Midwestern expansion. The automaker also unveiled plans for an updated Mustang, Ranger, and a new electric commercial vehicle.

In a joint announcement with the United Auto Workers, Ford said it will provide immediate healthcare benefits to all hourly employees “on day one,” and convert nearly 3,000 temporary employees to permanent full-time status ahead of schedule. The company also said it would spend $1 billion to improve working conditions at its US plants.

Ford didn’t disclose what type of new electric commercial vehicle it has planned, except to say it will...

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Sonos’ long-awaited Sub Mini shows up at the FCC

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Even before its latest soundbar hits store shelves, Sonos is moving closer to the release of its next product — and it’s an eagerly anticipated one. As noted by Redditors and Protocol’s Janko Roettgers, the upcoming Sonos Sub Mini subwoofer has passed through the FCC.

The filing leaves no doubt about what product we’re looking at: the Sub Mini was tested in a setup that included a “master device” none other than the Sonos Beam. And a diagram showing the location of the FCC compliance label confirms the cylindrical design that Sonos has previously referenced.

Image: FCC

The FCC filing confirms the Sub Mini’s cylindrical shape.

Last month, The Verge revealed a 3D render preview of the Sub Mini’s overall design....

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Valve delays Steam Deck dock due to COVID-related shortages and closures

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Valve shared yesterday that its official docking station made to pipe the Steam Deck’s visuals to a TV or monitor (and connect a couple of USB peripherals) has been delayed yet again. The dock missed its initial launch window of shipping alongside the first batch of Deck reservations in late February, and a mix of ongoing part shortages and COVID-related work stoppages has pushed its release further into the future. Valve didn’t share when it’s aiming to release the dock, though it says it’s “working on improving the situation.”

For the many who are still waiting on their Steam Deck reservations to arrive, Valve wants you to know that this dock delay will have no impact on console production. It says that these docks use different parts,...

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Playing Card Shark actually feels like cheating — in a good way

Any of my friends will tell you that I’m a terrible liar — it makes me an uninspired poker player. But in Card Shark, a new game about cheating at cards, I feel like I can actually pull the wool over people’s eyes.

In Card Shark, which takes place in 18th-century France, you play as a young man who, for story reasons, falls under the wing of Comte de Saint-Germain, a figure inspired by a real-life count. He teaches you various card tricks and cheats so the two of you can swindle people out of money. The cheats start small, like wiping the table in a certain direction to tip off what your opponent’s strongest suit is, but, by the end of the game, you’re stringing together multiple techniques in a row in complex schemes to win a round. If...

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TCL’s Stylus 5G is another new budget phone with a pen

The TCL Stylus 5G is a low-cost stylus phone on sale now through T-Mobile. | Image: TCL

Things looked grim for fans of budget stylus phones when LG dropped out of the mobile market last year, taking its Stylo devices with it. Just when it looked like Motorola was going to run the table with its Moto G Stylus phones, TCL has announced a new device with a built-in stylus: the aptly named TCL Stylus 5G. It’s available starting today, June 2nd, from T-Mobile for $258.

The Stylus 5G includes a 6.81-inch 1080p LCD, MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G chipset, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. There’s a 4,000mAh battery — quite a bit smaller than the 5,000mAh capacity of Motorola’s stylus phones — plus a microSD slot for storage expansion and a headphone jack.

The phone includes a few stylus-centric pre-downloads, including an AI...

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Chromebook 101: what’s different about the Chromebook keyboard?

One of the first shocks that you may experience when you buy your first Chromebook probably comes when you look at the keyboard. Where is the Caps Lock key? What (if you have a Pixelbook) is that strange-looking key between the Ctrl and Alt keys? What is that key in the top row that looks like a square with two straight lines next to it?

Google has tweaked the keyboard of its Chromebooks in ways that emphasize how Chrome OS differs from Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS. And what makes things even more confusing is that the layout of the keyboard can vary depending on the model of Chromebook you are using. For example, if you are using a Pixelbook, you may have a couple of extra keys. In addition, a key that has a “search” symbol on it...

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Polestar’s experimental EV, nicknamed ‘Beast,’ is getting a limited production run

Polestar’s experimental, high-performance one-off for the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed — nicknamed “Beast” — is going into limited production.

The Swedish EV maker announced plans to make and sell 270 units of the 476-horsepower fastback sedans, with 47 of those vehicles intended for the US market. The Polestar 2 “BST edition 270,” named for the number of vehicles that will be built, will be available exclusively in Europe, China, and North America.

The modified Polestar 2 features a dual-motor configuration that’s been tuned to pump out 476 horsepower, compared to 408 horsepower in the production version. The vehicle’s stance has also been widened by 10 millimeters on both sides, and the ride height was lowered by 2mm to improve...

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Here are the best Amazon Echo deals right now

The Echo Show 5 (left), Echo Show 8 (middle), and the Echo Show (right). | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon’s current Echo lineup offers a broad selection of smart speakers and displays that can fit just about anywhere in your home. Whether you want to place a voice assistant in your living room, replace the bulletin board in your office, or pick up a touchscreen-enabled device to showcase recipes in the kitchen, there's an Echo device for just about every occasion and use case.

Regardless of why you might want one, there’s always a way to save on an Echo device, from the last-gen Dot to Amazon’s latest Echo Show 10. Even when they’re selling at full price, for instance, Amazon offers a 25 percent discount when you trade in select devices, meaning there are still other ways to save money when none of the models are on sale.

Below,...

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Here are the best Kindle deals right now

Amazon’s ad-supported base Kindle from 2019 remains the cheapest Kindle you can buy at $89.99. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

When it comes to finding a device to use to read your ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or use your smartphone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling on Twitter. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while niche, are designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with limited functionality.

Amazon, one of the pioneers of the e-reader, has dominated the space for years with its Kindle lineup, which consists of several unique models with their own pros and cons.

Below, we’ve listed each model currently available for purchase. Sometimes, there isn’t a deal for one, or any, of the...

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The Verge’s 2022 Father’s Day Gift Guide

Illustration by Harry Bhalerao / The Verge

Get a gift that the dad in your life will actually enjoy

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Sheryl Sandberg on leaving Meta

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

“It is a job that’s been an honor and a privilege, but it’s not a job that leaves a lot of time to do much else.”

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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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NASA outsources development of Moon spacesuit to two private companies

An artistic rendering of astronauts wearing next-generation spacesuits on the Moon. | Image: NASA

Today, NASA announced that two private companies — Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace — will develop the next-generation spacesuits that future astronauts will wear to conduct spacewalks and eventually traverse the surface of the Moon. It’s a bold new direction for spacesuit development at NASA, with the agency handing the job over to the private sector after years of struggling to develop a new suit of its own.

These new spacesuits will play a critical role in NASA’s Artemis program, the agency’s flagship initiative to send humans back to the lunar surface. Currently, NASA is aiming to land the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2025 — a one-year delay from the 2024 deadline originally set by the Trump administration. When the...

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Canon wireless printers are getting stuck in reboot loops, but there may be a way for you to fix it

Pixma MX492 printer. | Image: Canon

Over the last day or two, there have been a growing number of reports by people who own certain Canon Pixma printers that the devices either won’t turn on at all or, once turned on, get stuck in a reboot loop, cycling on and off as long as they’re plugged in. Verge reader Jamie pointed us to posts on Reddit about the problem and Canon’s own support forum, citing problems with models including the MX490, MX492, MB2010, and MG7520.

Some believe their problem is due to a software update Canon pushed to the printers, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. In response to an inquiry from The Verge, corporate communications senior director and general manager Christine Sedlacek said, “We are currently investigating this issue and hope to bring...

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