Apple’s getting sued for having a monopoly on the iPhone’s tap-to-pay

At least one card issuer is tired of paying fees. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

A proposed class action lawsuit is taking aim at Apple Pay, claiming that Apple has an illegal monopoly over contactless payments on the iPhone, letting it force card issuers into paying fees (via Bloomberg). The suit is being kicked off by Iowa-based Affinity Credit Union, which issues debit and credit cards that are compatible with Apple Pay, but the company’s lawyers hope to make it a class-action case so other card issuers can join the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, which you can read in full below, Apple makes over $1 billion a year charging credit card companies up to 0.15 percent per transaction in Apple Pay fees, and yet those same card issuers don’t have to pay anything when their customers use “functionally identical...

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Desus and Mero are over

Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Duo Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who established one of the top comedy brands of the decade with their podcast Bodega Boys and their eponymous show on Showtime, are well and truly done.

Desus and Mero, otherwise known as Daniel Baker and Joel Martinez, respectively, are arguably the biggest podcast to Hollywood crossovers in the industry. After breaking into podcasting with Complex TV’s Desus vs. Mero podcast and Bodega Boys, the pair had a show on Viceland from 2016 to 2018 before getting the Showtime late-night series that would take them mainstream.

“Desus Nice and The Kid Mero will be pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward,” Showtime said in a statement Monday evening. “Showtime’s late-night talk show Desus & Mero will...

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The best Sonos speaker and soundbar deals

The Sonos Roam launched last year is now available for just $139 when purchased in refurbished condition from Sonos. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Most would agree that Sonos offers some of the best speakers and soundbars currently available. That’s because Sonos makes speakers that — more often than not — boast great sound quality, support for all the major streaming platforms, and simple multi-room functionality. Unfortunately, however, those perks often come at a high price. Sonos products aren’t cheap, and, outside of the occasional rogue discount, they rarely go on sale. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t ways to save at least a few dollars on Sonos gear.

If you’re comfortable buying refurbished, for example, you could save a decent amount. We also occasionally see sales on Sonos’ collaborative series with Ikea and discounted bundles that include Sonos...

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Russia fines Google $365 million over YouTube videos containing ‘prohibited’ content

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

Russia imposed a nearly $365 million fine (21.1 billion rubles) on Google for failing to delete YouTube videos that go against the country’s laws, as reported earlier by Reuters. In a translated press release, Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor states that YouTube didn’t follow orders to remove “prohibited content,” which includes videos “promoting extremism and terrorism,” as well as supposedly false information about the war in Ukraine.

In March, the Roskomnadzor threatened to charge Google over its failure to remove “illegal” YouTube videos, stating the fee would start at 8 million rubles (~$94,675 USD at the time), with the possibility to climb to 20 percent of Google’s annual revenue. The 21.1 billion rubles reflects a...

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The new Google Wallet is starting to show up on people’s phones

Return of the Wallet | Image: Google

Google Wallet, the app that will replace Google Pay in many countries (more on that in a moment), has started to show up on people’s phones. According to Google spokesperson Chaiti Sen, the company has “started rolling out the Wallet to Android users in 39 countries,” and it’ll be available “to all users over the next few days.”

Google announced Wallet at its 2022 I/O event, pitching it as an app to manage all your digital cards — not just for payment, like debit and credit cards (though it does hold those), but for digital representations of your identification, vaccination status, tickets, keys, and more as well.

Google announces Google Wallet, a new digital wallet for Android 13 #GoogleIO2022 pic.twitter.com/7OwXFvsi65

— The Verge...

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Unity CEO apologizes for calling some game developers ‘fucking idiots’

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has apologized for calling some game developers “some of the biggest fucking idiots” in an interview and has vowed that he will “do better.”

This is a saga that has been playing out over several days, so let’s take a few steps back. On July 13th, Unity, which makes a popular game development engine, announced that it would be merging with ironSource, which offers software that helps developers monetize their apps. Riccitiello (who was formerly the CEO of EA) and Unity SVP Marc Whitten were interviewed by Pocket Gamer about the news, and the interviewer talked about how some developers push back on implementing monetization earlier in a game’s development.

That’s where Riccitiello said the “fucking idiots” quote...

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NASA delays launch of rover designed to search and drill for water on the Moon

An artistic rendering of NASA’s VIPER lander on the Moon | Image: NASA

NASA is delaying the flight of its VIPER rover — a specialized bot designed to hunt for water on the surface of the Moon. Originally set to embark on its lunar expedition in November of 2023, VIPER is now targeting a launch in November of 2024 in order to allow for testing of the lander that will deliver the vehicle to the Moon’s surface, according to NASA.

Standing for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, VIPER is a big component of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the Moon. The robotic rover is, in essence, a prospector. Equipped with specialized agile wheels, science instruments, and a drill, VIPER is designed to hunt for water ice that is thought to be located on the Moon’s surface in order to...

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How to print a paper copy or a PDF from an iPhone or iPad

Printing a document from the Pages app. | Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Printing is all but dead in this all-digital world, but there are still some things you can’t easily digitize: shipping labels, flyers for a bulletin board, printing out an email for your boss, and sticking prank memes in your colleagues’ cubicles. And in this era of doing almost everything on your phone, it’s good to have the option to print from it instead of needing to jump onto a computer.

Apple has succeeded in building one of the easiest methods of printing from a smartphone by getting many printer manufacturers to adopt its AirPrint wireless printing feature. Apple also has a really easy way to create PDF documents instead of a traditional print copy — if you know how to get to it. In this article, we’ll show you both.

Printing...

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The London Luton airport suspended flights after its runway buckled due to the UK heat

Temperatures are predicted to reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. | Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The United Kingdom is currently experiencing an extreme heatwave, and some of its infrastructure hasn’t been able to cope. London Luton Airport, a hub for low-cost flights, had to suspend departures and arrivals on Monday after the heat caused a “small section” of runway to lift up, according to a tweet posted to the airport’s account. The BBC reports that the shutdown, which was cleared up by 6:05PM British Summer Time, meant that at least a few flights had to be diverted or canceled.

Luton isn’t the only airport experiencing heat-related issues. According to CNBC, the Royal Air Force couldn’t use its Brize Norton station in Oxfordshire thanks to the heat. The UK’s Met Office predicted that temperatures in London would reach 39 degrees...

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Netflix’s latest anti-password sharing test lets users ‘buy’ additional homes

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is testing a new way to tackle password sharing in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic (as reported first by Bloomberg). The test will prompt users to pay an additional fee if they use an account outside their household for over two weeks, costing an extra 219 pesos ($1.17 in Argentina) and $2.99 everywhere else.

According to Netflix, in the test areas, subscriber accounts have one primary “home” where they can access Netflix across their devices, and they have the ability to travel and use Netflix on the go. The test will allow users to purchase additional “homes,” giving the users in those locations the ability to use the service on devices at those locations as well. In these countries,...

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Your Crunchyroll anime subscription just got cheaper in these 95 countries

Now that Sony has successfully rolled Funimation into Crunchyroll in an attempt to create the one anime streaming service to rule them all, it’s leveraging that consolidation to raise prices, right? Wrong, apparently! The company just announced price cuts in 95 different territories around the world, including the UK, China, India, and many, many more.

The price of a Mega Fan subscription is dropping 25 percent in the UK, 37 percent in Brazil, and — at the current exchange rate — it’ll cost nearly 88 percent less in India, where the company was previously charging $9.99 USD and will now charge 99 Indian rupees instead. The company isn’t saying how much every territory will pay, but there’s a full list of territories here.

Oh, but if you...

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Apple reportedly wants to slow down hiring in 2023

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple is planning to slow hiring in 2023, according to Bloomberg, making it the latest big tech company to shift its hiring plans.

The changes won’t affect every team, Bloomberg reports, but some groups won’t see increased staff next year and some positions won’t be backfilled. Apple is also still prepping to launch its long-rumored mixed reality headset in 2023. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many tech companies have adjusted hiring in recent weeks. Google CEO Sundar Pichai informed staff about a hiring slowdown. Meta’s chief product officer warned employees of “serious times” and has issued a hiring freeze for certain roles. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi vowed to be “hardcore about costs” in a memo. And B...

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Feds are tracking phone locations with data bought from brokers

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been buying location data from third parties to sidestep the traditional warrant process, according to new documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The documents show that agencies like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were able to purchase vast amounts of this location data without any judicial oversight and use it to track the movements of millions of cellphones within the US.

Generally, obtaining data about domestic communications directly from the providers (i.e., telecom companies) requires a warrant, which must be approved by a judge. But purchasing data from intermediary organizations is not subject to the same...

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The Powerpuff Girls are being rebooted for the third time

Bubbles, Blossom, and Buttercup Utonium shortly after being born. | Image: Cartoon Network Studios

While the world may never get a chance to see The CW’s ill-fated live-action Powerpuff Girls series that nobody was really hot on, Townsville’s greatest superheroes are making their way back to the small screen once again in a new project from their original creator.

Deadline reports that animation heavyweight Craig McCracken is partnering with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe to produce and direct new rebooted versions of The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, two of McCracken’s animated series that defined Cartoon Network throughout the ‘90s and early ‘00s. While the new Powerpuff Girls will once again tell the story of a group of superpowered sisters who regularly save the city of Townsville, the new Foster’s project...

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Verizon is rolling out faster 5G in more places, but you’ll have to guess where

From 60 MHz to 100 | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Verizon says that customers in “many markets across the US” could get significantly faster 5G speeds, even when they’re not right next to a cell tower. According to a press release on Monday, this is possible because Verizon’s deploying extra C-band spectrum; for some areas, the carrier’s now using 100 MHz of bandwidth instead of 60 MHz. The company says some engineers got blazing fast download speeds of 1.4 Gigabits per second when they were “near active cell sites,” which dropped down to a (still very fast) 500 Mbps after they moved “further away from the towers.”

Verizon didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s question about how far the engineers were from the towers when they conducted the test.

While people using Verizon’s ultra...

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Uber will pay over $2 million to disabled riders after federal settlement

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Uber has settled with the Department of Justice over allegations that it discriminated against disabled passengers, the DOJ announced in a press release on Monday. As part of the agreement, Uber will credit double the total wait fees issued to the 65,000 disabled riders already identified by Uber’s programs and commit more than $2 million to funds for other affected individuals.

The claims center on Uber’s wait fee policy, which adds additional fees when a passenger takes more than two minutes to board the car. Disabled riders have long objected to the policy, claiming the fees disproportionately affect riders with physical disabilities.

While the fees themselves are typically under a dollar, plaintiffs argued they contributed to a...

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Sony is investing even more into esports

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony is acquiring the esports tournament platform Repeat.gg, marking the PlayStation maker’s latest investment into esports. Repeat.gg has put on more than 100,000 tournaments with over 2.3 million participants, reports GamesIndustry.biz, featuring popular games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone.

“Together with the talented Repeat.gg team, we’re excited to explore more ways for players to engage in competitive gaming and expand the breadth of our esports offerings,” Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Steven Roberts said to GamesIndustry.biz. “This is just the start of our journey and we look forward to sharing more updates with our community in the future.”

Because of the acquisition, Repeat.gg will have access to...

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The best noise-canceling headphone deals

You can currently buy the AirPods Max for around $449 instead of $549. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

With more people working from home than they used to, owning a good pair of noise-canceling headphones has become more appealing than ever. However, they can be expensive and difficult to shop for due to the range of available models, many of which cater to different lifestyles and priorities. Some are better suited for long-haul flights, for instance, while others are ideal for multitasking and marathon listening sessions.

That’s why we’ve curated this list of the best deals on noise-canceling headphones. Here, you’ll find sales on all kinds of on-ear and over-ear headphones, all of which are designed to eliminate outside noise but come with their own strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to do even more research before making a...

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Democrats prepare bill that would codify net neutrality

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Congressional Democrats are preparing to relaunch their fight to restore net neutrality, according to a new report from The Washington Post on Monday. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are expected to introduce a new bill codifying the Obama-era internet rules in the coming weeks.

The Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act — spearheaded by longtime Senate internet advocates Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) — would reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II. This would give the Federal Communications Commission new enforcement powers over the internet, including the power to set rules against throttling, blocking, or paid prioritization.

“It is more clear than ever that broadband internet is an...

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Amazon is giving Prime Video its biggest redesign in years

The new Prime Video experience starts rolling out this week. | Image: Amazon

New navigation, a top 10 list, and a very familiar look and feel

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Here’s one final look at the Cadillac Celestiq before its full reveal

We’ll see the other half later this week... | Image: Cadillac

Cadillac is offering one final teaser of the Cadillac Celestiq ahead of its full reveal later this week. The ultra-luxe EV will soon join the Lyriq and become the second full EV to ship out of GM’s luxury division, although the Celestiq is expected to be in a class of its own with a price that could start around the $300,000 range with a 500-units-per-year production target.

“Every Celestiq will be instantly identifiable as one of a kind, giving each client a personal connection to Cadillac’s newest flagship,” said Cadillac’s design director for the Celestiq, Erin Crossley. The EV will be hand-built at GM’s global technical center in Warren, Michigan, with “globally sourced parts.”

The Celestiq is built on GM’s flexible Ultium EV...

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Instagram will let shoppers place orders and track packages in DMs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Instagram shoppers in the US will be able to pay for products directly in messages, the company announced today. Buyers will also be able to ask questions about products and track orders in the same message thread with merchants.

Image: Instagram

Payment through messages on the buyer side.

Many small businesses on Instagram already field questions about products, arrange payments, and offer customer support via DMs. Payments in messages will only be available to qualified accounts that have set up a business account on Instagram.

The option to request a payment directly through messages cuts out the additional step of sending an invoice via other apps. By offering this step — along with tracking and customer...

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Apple Arcade will be losing 15 games soon

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple Arcade, Apple’s $5 per month subscription service for games, will be losing 15 titles sometime soon. As reported by TouchArcade, there’s a new section at the bottom of the Arcade tab in the App Store titled “Leaving Arcade Soon,” and it lists the games that will be removed.

When I checked the new section on my iPhone, there was no specific indication as to when the games will be gone (beyond “soon”). Games have left Apple Arcade before, according to TouchArcade, but this is apparently the first time Apple has spelled out which titles will be going away. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

As of this writing, here’s the list of games that will be leaving:

• Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree
• BattleSky Brigade:...

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The UK’s blistering heatwave is just the beginning

18 July 2022, Great Britain, London: The sun rises over skyscrapers. | Photo by Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance via Getty Images

For the first time on record, parts of the UK are sweltering in temperatures that could soon reach40 degrees Celsius (that’s over 104 degrees Fahrenheit for American readers). It’s the first time those temperatures have ever been forecast in the UK, according to the Met Office, which also issued its first-ever “Red Extreme” heat warning for parts of England. The warning kicked in today and lasts through tomorrow.

The level of risk the UK now faces from extreme heat is unprecedented. But this isn’t a one-off event. The nation is going to have to brace for dangerous heat much more often, forecasters warn.

“We hoped we wouldn’t get to this situation”

“We hoped we wouldn’t get to this situation,” Met Office climate attribution scientist...

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Stray improves adventure games by turning you into a cat

A change in perspective is just what the genre needed

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JD Power study shows we’re noticing more problems with mobile networks, even with 5G

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge

A new study measuring mobile network performance in the US indicates an increase in network problems, with slow performance or the inability to load content cited as the most common complaints. That’s according to research firm JD Power, which attributes the dip in network quality to increased usage.

JD Power conducted the study from January to June 2022 and ranks each mobile carrier based on the number of problems per 100 connections. The results consistently show Verizon as the carrier with the least number of issues, with AT&T only beating Verizon in the Southwest and tying with the company in the Northeast. Meanwhile, T-Mobile trailed behind the two carriers across every region in the US.

Issues apparently decreased in areas where...

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UK regulator’s order for Meta to sell Giphy is under review — again

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

There’s been another twist in the saga of Meta’s attempt to buy GIF-sharing service Giphy, Bloomberg reports. Judges with the Competition Appeal Tribunal have told the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to reconsider its previous ruling telling Meta to sell Giphy. “We have agreed to reconsider our decision in light of this finding,” the CMA told Bloomberg in a statement. It hopes the process will take no longer than three months.

The ruling comes a month after the same tribunal largely sided with the regulator after Meta appealed its order to unwind the deal and sell Giphy. The tribunal found in favor of the CMA on five out of the six claims, but, crucially, on the remaining claim, it ruled that the...

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Microsoft’s secret plastic Surface Duo leaks on eBay

The original Surface Duo. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft was reportedly planning to launch a more affordable plastic version of the Surface Duo 2, and images appear to have leaked on eBay of the device. Windows Central reports that Microsoft canceled this mysterious midrange version of the Surface Duo 2 in late 2021 after reportedly originally planning to launch it as a cheaper model later this year.

The leaked images on a now-deleted eBay listing reveal the device would have shipped with a more rounded design, a plastic matte finish, and a slightly smaller camera bump. Microsoft was reportedly making changes to the form factor of the Surface Duo 2 to position this as a lower-cost model.

Image: eBay

The leaked Surface Duo 2 plastic device.

...

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Corsair brings Nvidia’s impressive noise removal to its iCue and Elgato software

Image: Nvidia

Corsair is integrating Nvidia’s Broadcast audio and video features into its iCue and Elgato software this week. All you’ll need is a compatible headset, microphone or camera, and an Nvidia RTX GPU. The integrations in iCue, Elgato Wave Link, and Elgato Camera Hub are all seamless for features like noise removal and virtual camera backgrounds, so you no longer have to use the separate Nvidia Broadcast app.

Nearly every Corsair headset that works with iCue will now be able to enable noise removal and room echo removal thanks to the Nvidia Broadcast integration. The Nvidia Broadcast features also include video integration for Elgato’s Camera Hub, allowing Elgato Facecam owners to easily enable a virtual background feature that eliminates...

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The latest iPad Mini is selling at a major discount

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The best iPad deal during Prime Day was on the 2020 iPad Air, selling for $379 at Walmart ($220 off). But the newer, faster iPad Mini has taken its place with a $100 price drop at Best Buy that brings it down to $399.99. While you’re technically getting less tablet for your money — the Mini has an 8.3-inch screen compared to the Air’s 10.9-inch display — it features a slightly faster A15 Bionic chipset than what’s in the 2020 Air. It’s also similar in design, boasting a revamped look that includes slick, flat edges, a Touch ID-equipped power button, and a USB-C charging port. Read our review.

Apple unveiled the 2021 iPad Mini in its fall hardware event last year, so it’s possible that there may be a new version on its way soon. If the...

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