The Razer Kishi V2 controller adds some of the Backbone controller’s best features

Image: Razer

Razer has announced the $99.99 Kishi V2, its new mobile controller that can cradle your Android phone to deliver a more handheld console-like experience. In terms of what’s new over the previous iteration, the Kishi V2 features some hardware traits in common with Razer’s Wolverine V2 controller. Namely, that its buttons utilize microswitches instead of membranes, so they’ll have a clicky feel. Also, there are two macro buttons near the triggers, one on each side, that can be custom programmed with a mobile app.

Let’s be honest, there’s a lot about the Kishi V2 that looks aped from the Backbone One controller for iPhone. To start, the Kishi V2 uses a similar extendable rear bridge design in place of the not terrible, but less intuitive...

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Microsoft winds down its business in Russia, lays off more than 400 people

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft says it’s “significantly” scaling down its business in Russia, more than three months after Russia invaded Ukraine. The software giant first pulled the plug on “new” sales of products and services in Russia in early March, and now Bloomberg News reports that the company is laying off 400 employees in Russia as it begins to wind down its business there.

“As a result of the changes to the economic outlook and the impact on our business in Russia, we have made the decision to significantly scale down our operations in Russia,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to Bloomberg News. “We will continue to fulfill our existing contractual obligations with Russian customers while the suspension of new sales remains in effect.”

M...

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YouTuber trains AI bot on 4chan’s pile o’ bile with entirely predictable results

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A YouTuber named Yannic Kilcher has sparked controversy in the AI world after training a bot on posts collected from 4chan’s Politically Incorrect board (otherwise known as /pol/).

The board is 4chan’s most popular and well-known for its toxicity (even in the anything-goes environment of 4chan). Posters share racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic messages, which the bot — named GPT-4chan after the popular series of GPT language models made by research lab OpenAI — learned to imitate. After training his model, Kilcher released it back onto 4chan as multiple bots, which posted tens of thousands of times on /pol/.

“The model was good, in a terrible sense,” says Kilcher in a video on YouTube describing the project. “It perfectly...

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How to get the most from Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 are the company’s latest flagship noise-canceling headphones. And as our review can attest, they’re perhaps the most comfortable, best-sounding set in the 1000X series so far.

As a result, you’re inevitably going to see them a lot — on flights, at the coffee shop, etc. — over the next several years. And should you end up with a pair yourself, it’s worth knowing about some of their more advanced features and tricks that aren’t always obvious in basic day-to-day use. Here are some worth trying out as you explore your new headphones.

How to control the WH-1000XM5 headphones

Like their predecessors, the WH-1000XM5 headphones are controlled using touch gestures on the surface of the right ear cup.

• Tap twice to play/pause.
• S...

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Facebook Gaming brings Crayta’s user-generated games to its cloud platform

Image: Unit 2 Games

Crayta, a platform that lets players create, share, and play games with friends, is coming to Facebook Gaming’s cloud-streaming service. The collaborative game-building platform is built on Unreal Engine 4 and features a library of thousands of player-made games users can browse or add to with their own creations.

While Crayta shares the element of game creation with Roblox, it also takes some cues from Fortnite, with the most obvious being its bright and cartoonish art. It also has rotating seasons, offers a battle pass, and lets users customize their own avatars. But probably one of the coolest — and most unique — things about Crayta is that it lets you share a game with just a single link, allowing your friend to hop right in from...

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How to install a Ring video doorbell

Installing a wired Ring doorbell such as this Ring Pro 2 takes about 45 minutes.

Installing a Ring video doorbell is one of the easiest smart home upgrades to tackle (with the possible exception of screwing in a smart lightbulb). Made up of a motion-activated camera with a microphone and speaker, a Ring video doorbell will send alerts to your smartphone and smart speakers to tell you when there’s someone at your door so you can see and talk to them. This is handy for making sure you don’t miss a visitor as well as for keeping an eye on packages if you’re not home.

Getting a Ring video doorbell set up on your front or backdoor should take between 10 and 45 minutes, depending on which of the seven models you decide to go with and whether you choose battery-powered or wired. If you have existing doorbell wires, I highly...

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Netflix is getting an animated Ghostbusters show from the minds behind Afterlife

Ghostbusters: Afterlife. | Image: Sony

The Ghostbusters cinematic universe is expanding once again — this time with an animated series.

Netflix announced today that it’s partnering with Sony for a new animated show based on the long-running spectral franchise. There aren’t any real details yet, but there’s reason to be excited: the project will be led by two of the key minds behind 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Both Jason Reitman (director and writer on Afterlife) and Gil Kenan (writer on Afterlife) will serve as executive producers on the animated series. No word yet on what the show will be about or when it might hit the streaming service.

The news comes as Netflix is in the midst of its now-annual Geeked Week event. So far, the company detailed quite a few new projects...

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A Supreme Court speech showdown is coming, and nobody knows what to expect

Alex Castro / The Verge

The First Amendment is up for debate

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Black Adam’s first trailer brings the thunder and the fury

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman.

After some major delays, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adamfeature starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is finally hitting theaters this fall, and a new trailer’s just dropped introducing the movie’s titular antihero as he first comes to power in the modern age.

Black Adam’s first trailer introduces Teth-Adam (Johnson), a man born into enslavement in the fictional country of Kahndaq some time in the distant past. Though Teth-Adam dies by the hand of his enslavers, he’s brought back to life by a magical bolt of lightning seemingly called down by his son shortly before the boy dies from the strain of the ritual. It’s Teth-Adam’s son’s death in the past that first radicalizes him and emboldens him to use his newfound powers to seek a...

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Vizio’s excellent M-Series 5.1.2 Atmos soundbar is a steal for $350

Vizio’s M-Series 5.1.2 premium soundbar is selling for just $349.99 at GameStop. | Image: Vizio

If your TV’s built-in speakers are just not cutting it, a soundbar like Vizio’s M-Series 5.1.2 can considerably amp up the sound quality. This particular Vizio soundbar is one of our favorites, offering a full Dolby Atmos soundbar system for a more immersive surround sound experience for far less than $500. The Bluetooth-equipped soundbar comes with a 6-inch wireless subwoofer, a backlit remote control, and two wired, upfiring rear speakers, which replicate the kind of sound you might expect to hear from in-ceiling speakers. Other companies would usually require you to buy these separately, making this system a great value for your money — especially today, as it’s just $349.99 at GameStop. That is a $150 discount and a new all-time low.

...

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Mario Strikers: Battle League makes soccer both simpler and more chaotic

Image: Nintendo

There are few things in life that aren’t improved with the addition of destructive red shells and slippery banana peels. It turns out that soccer is no exception. Mario Strikers: Battle League is Nintendo’s latest attempt at an arcade-style soccer game, and it’s an experience that’s both streamlined and chaotic. That means that it’s easy to pick up and play but also that there’s a lot going on, offering both depth for skilled players and some shortcuts for newbies. It follows much of the same ethos as Mario Kart, only you’re kicking a ball around instead of hugging the curves on Rainbow Road. It’s an incredible amount of fun — but to get the most out of it, you’ll definitely need to bring some friends along.

At its core, Strikers is a...

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The tangled truth about NFTs and copyright

Illustration by Mengxin Li / The Verge

If code is law, countless NFTs are built on buggy code

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The ZTE Axon 40 Ultra’s under-display camera gets the display part right

The phone’s 16-megapixel selfie camera is neatly concealed under a 6.8-inch screen.

To grossly oversimplify it, there are two challenges behind making an under-display camera (UDC): to convincingly hide the camera under the screen and to produce images that look as good as traditional selfie cameras. With its third-gen UDC on the Axon 40 Ultra, ZTE has nailed the “hide the camera” part of that challenge. As for “take good photos,” ZTE has come a long way on that since its first attempt, but there’s still work to be done.

First, some basics: this is a 16-megapixel camera residing under a 6.8-inch 2480 x 1116 OLED panel. On the back of the phone, there are three 64-megapixel cameras: a 16mm-equivalent ultrawide; a stabilized 35mm standard wide; and a stabilized 91mm telephoto lens. ZTE has made some improvements to the...

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Is NFT art any good?

Illustration by Mengxin Li / The Verge

An art critic takes stock of the tokenized digital aesthetic

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Nothing will launch its debut smartphone on July 12th

An early image of the phone’s home screen released in March. | Image: Nothing

Nothing, the consumer tech startup led by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, will announce its first smartphone at an event on July 12th, the company has announced. The Nothing Phone 1 will be the company’s second device, following the release of its Ear 1 true wireless earbuds last year. The in-person event will be held in London alongside a simultaneous livestream at 11AM ET. Nothing is branding the launch as Nothing (event): Return to Instinct.

The company has already teased and officially announced several aspects of the smartphone. At an event in March, the company teased details of its Nothing OS launcher, which will run on top of Android 11. This launcher was released in beta last month. The phone will reportedly feature transparent...

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Microsoft HoloLens boss Alex Kipman is out after misconduct allegations

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Insider is reporting that Microsoft’s Alex Kipman, who led the teams that developed the company’s HoloLens augmented reality headset and the Kinect motion controller for Xbox and serves as one of Microsoft’s top technical fellows, has resigned after allegations of verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

Microsoft wouldn't immediately confirm or deny the report, but GeekWire has already corroborated it by obtaining an internal email from Microsoft cloud boss Scott Guthrie: “We have mutually decided that this is the right time for him to leave the company to pursue other opportunities,” he writes. The memo, which you can read at GeekWire, says nothing about the allegations, and says Kipman will stay on for two more months to help with the...

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Looks like Google’s cheaper Chromecast is becoming a reality

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

In January, Protocol revealed that Google was working on a cheaper Chromecast video streaming dongle that would top out at 1080p resolution, which could possibly be sold as the “Chromecast HD with Google TV.”

Now, a new Google filing with the Federal Communications Commission (via Droid-Life) suggests that device is indeed on the way.

Mind you, the FCC filing doesn’t straight-up confirm a Chromecast. For now, it’s simply designated the “Google G454V.” There aren’t any juicy leaked pictures; the filings simply describe as a “wireless device” with dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi plus Bluetooth LE.

But if you’ll let me direct your attention for a moment to this diagram, friends, I think it will all become clear:

...

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Taco Bell opens its first ‘Defy’ restaurant that prioritizes ordering via app

Taco Bell Defy in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota | Image: Taco Bell / Border Foods

Today, Taco Bell opened the doors to its new digital-driven, two-story restaurant concept, Taco Bell Defy, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Taco Bell first told us about Taco Bell Defy back in August 2021. The location uses technology to speed up service, with a “bold goal of creating a 2 minute or less drive-thru experience for customers of this concept,” according to Taco Bell President Mike Grams.

Most of all, the design of the new restaurant is meant to be more mobile order and third-party delivery friendly. It delivers orders from the elevated kitchen area via a vertical lift / “food tube” seen in the video below that brings meals down to ground level — think a drive-thru bank but you get a Chalupa and Baja Blast instead of cash....

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The best deals on true wireless earbuds right now

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

When it comes to true wireless earbuds, there are a ton of brands and products to choose from. Whether you need something with noise cancellation for your daily commute like the Apple AirPods Pro or a fitness-focused pair like the Beats Powerbeats Pro, there’s now a pair of wireless earbuds well suited for nearly every occasion. Some, like the UE Fits, even conform to the shape of your ear to provide a secure fit that’s uniquely yours.

Regardless of the brand or model that speaks to you, however, we’ve scoured the internet to find the best deals currently available on true wireless earbuds. Of course, if you’re still trying to find the right make and model for you, make sure to check out our guide to the best wireless earbuds, which...

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YouTube TV finally adds 5.1 audio on Google TV, Android TV, and Roku

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

Nearly a year ago, YouTube TV announced plans to add 5.1 surround sound support for its streaming TV package. When we spoke to YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan earlier this year on The Vergecast about new features rolling out for the platform, he told us it would arrive soon. Now, it’s here for more devices, including the most recent Chromecast with Google TV.

The company announced that, in addition to previously existing surround sound support on traditional Chromecasts and TVs made by Vizio, LG, or Samsung, the immersive audio experience is rolling out to Google TV, Android TV, and Roku.

According to a support page for YouTube TV, if you have a compatible hardware setup and the program you’re watching is available with 5.1...

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Apple explains how it’s making your iPhone a full-fledged webcam for your Mac

Apple software developer Karen Xing details and demos Continuity Camera. | Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

It was easy to laugh yesterday when Apple revealed that you’ll soon be able to stick an iPhone on the back of your Mac to get a better webcam. Some joked that Apple design legend Jony Ive was off crying somewhere. Others wondered whether this was truly the best Apple could come up with after years of grainy MacBook images and how the Apple Studio Display’s camera fell short.

Apple will let you use your iPhone as a webcam with continuity #WWDC22 pic.twitter.com/pzGzfdcm06

— The Verge (@verge) June 6, 2022

But today, Apple software engineer Karen Xing spent some time explaining how the new Continuity Camera feature for macOS Ventura will actually work at WWDC 2022 — and it sounds seriously impressive. It could make your iPhone a...

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Chrome OS 101: how to save and retrieve files

A few years ago, I was shopping for a Chromebook to take on a business trip. I wanted something lightweight enough to carry around all day and inexpensive enough that I wouldn’t mind as much when I spilled coffee on the keyboard. I was considering two different models when a sales rep came over to see if I needed help. “You’re aware,” he said, “that these are Chromebooks, right? They only work online; you can’t save any files to the hard drive.”

It wasn’t the first time I’ve caught a sales rep in a mistake, of course. But this is a mistake that seems to have persisted.

Yes, Chromebooks were created to be used predominantly online. In fact, when the first Chrome OS laptops were introduced in 2011, there were very few apps that could be...

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Ford surprises F-150 Lightning owners with accessory that can recharge stranded Teslas

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Ford has been vocal about the new F-150 Lightning’s bi-directional charging capability that enables owners to use the electric truck’s massive battery to charge other EVs. And, now, the company is apparently including a new accessory so these Good Samaritan truck owners can help out stranded Teslas.

A member of an online forum for new F-150 Lightning owners shared a photo of the new accessory, a J1772 Adapter for Tesla vehicles by an EV charging company called Lentz. The owner was surprised because the adapter was not listed among the standard accessories that would be provided with the new truck.

While most electric vehicles feature a standard J1772 charging connector, Tesla requires a proprietary connector that’s found at the...

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You can now pin three posts or reels to your Instagram profile

Image: Instagram

Instagram now lets you pin up to three posts or reels to the top of your profile. Just like pinned posts on TikTok and Twitter, they’ll sit at the forefront of your Instagram grid as if you recently posted them.

You can use the feature by selecting one of your posts or reels and then tapping the three dots at the top-right corner of the post. From there, hit Pin to your profile. When you return to your profile, you’ll see your post at the top-left corner of your grid with a white pin icon. If you decide to add another post or reel, any existing pinned posts will get pushed to the right.

You like it? You pin it

You can now choose up to three posts or Reels to pin to the top of your profile. pic.twitter.com/9waQkueckG

— Instagram...

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Honor of Kings to get a global release

Level Infinite

Honor of Kings, one of the highest grossing mobile games of all time, is getting a worldwide release. Today, developer Level Infinite announced that it’s bringing Honor of Kings to the rest of the world and that invites to a closed beta would be coming soon.

We have great news! We will be rolling out Honor of Kings by TiMi Studio Group to you global gamers by the end of this year!

Rounds of closed beta tests will be gradually announced starting next month.

Please be patient and stay tuned for more updates! pic.twitter.com/T8ZN1ZLM8Y

— Level Infinite (@LevelInfinite) June 7, 2022

If you’re having a bit of deja vu, do not be alarmed. The matrix is not glitching. Tencent, Honor of Kings’ publisher, has technically done this before when it...

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iOS 16 fixes annoying reaction texts in ‘green bubble’ message groups

This large Pokemon Go SMS group text thread gets inundated with iOS Tapback reactions. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Anyone who’s been in a text message group chat with participants spread across iOS and Android probably knows about the annoying reaction texts coming from iPhone users, usually formatted as: Person A Liked/Disliked “Person B’s message.” But now, after Google implemented a workaround inside its text message app on Android, Apple is doing something about it with iOS 16. After the update, it will hide those written messages and output them as the expected bubble icon next to the message it was in reaction to (via 9to5Mac).

Google’s fix on the Android side earlier this year worked a similar way, by adding iOS-friendly emoji reactions to the Google Messages app. Apple’s iMessage Tapbacks have since appeared as proper emoji icons on Androids...

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Apple’s design is getting a little more human-friendly — sort of

Updates coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems make them a little more human-centric. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple’s WWDC 2022 announcements lacked big, splashy new features, and Siri was largely MIA. But in the absence of Apple’s virtual assistant, we got a lot of small but potentially meaningful software updates centered around a very real individual: you. And me. Developers know us as “end users,” but we’re otherwise known as humans.

Humans are different from end users, because we forget words, make typos, and accidentally hit send on an important email before it’s ready. Humans also have individual personalities and strong opinions about typefaces, and we’d like it if the devices we carry around 24/7 reflected that a little more. Historically, Apple has preferred to keep a tight grip on every aspect of its devices, from how they look to...

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Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil welcomes its newest class in new clip

Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey, Charlize Theron as Lady Lesso. | Helen Sloan/Netflix © 2022

While most children grow up simply thinking of figures like Cinderella as fictional people, in Netflix’s upcoming live-action adaptation of Soman Chainani’s The School for Good and Evil, fairy tales are very real accounts of historical events that everyone should know. Agatha and Sophie, the story’s heroines know that there’s a reason everyone in their village insists that kids learn the lessons woven into tales about the fae folk and warn them to steer clear of the nearby menacing forest.

But, in The School for Good and Evil’s first teaser trailer that dropped as a part of this year’s Netflix Geeked Week, Agatha (Sofia Wylie) and Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) discover that the truth that’s been looming over them their whole lives is...

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‘H2Hubs’ will fuel American hydrogen production in $8 billion program

A new plant in Puertollano, Spain, will be Europe’s largest production site for green hydrogen for industrial use. | Image: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Department of Energy kicked off a new $8 billion program yesterday to develop a network of hubs for producing hydrogen as a clean fuel. It’s a milestone for one of the Biden administration’s most contentious strategies for tackling climate change.

Hydrogen has the potential to slash emissions from some of the industries that are the hardest to clean up. It might replace coal used in making steel or fossil fuels that power diesel trucks and cargo ships. When burned, it produces water vapor instead of greenhouse gas emissions (although it can still contribute to nitrogen oxide pollution in the air).

The tricky part is that not all hydrogen is created the same way

The tricky part is that not all hydrogen is created the same way and can...

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Investor sues the Winklevoss twins’ troubled crypto business over security failures

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

IRA Financial Trust, a platform that lets users save for retirement in alternative assets like cryptocurrency, is suing the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange over an alleged failure to protect its customers from a heist that resulted in the theft of $36 million in crypto. The financial platform partners with Gemini, owned by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, to allow customers to trade and store cryptocurrency.

In February, IRA was the victim of a major attack that drained the millions in funds customers had stored with Gemini. The company was reportedly swatted, the act of calling the police to report a fake crime at someone’s location, when the cyberattack occurred. Police showed up at IRA’s South Dakota headquarters after false...

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