iRobot’s poop-avoiding Roomba j7 vacuum is on sale for $200 off today

Verge readers can save up to $200 on iRobot’s Roomba j7 and Roomba i3 Plus EVO for a limited time. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Great news, folks! Wellbots is currently taking up to $200 off cat Ubers — err, robot vacuums. OK, it may not be the most exciting news of the week, but most people would agree that there is nothing remotely fun about cleaning. Luckily, robot vacuums like iRobot’s Roomba j7 and Roomba i3 Plus EVO can expedite the entire process and make it a lot less hands-on.

Right now, you can buy the Roomba j7 — our favorite robot vacuum — for just $399 ($200 off) at Wellbots when you use promo code THEVERGE200 at checkout, which matches the robovac’s lowest price to date. The vacuum offers a wealth of great features, including scheduling, obstacle avoidance, the ability to map out your home’s layout, and Alexa, Google, and Siri support so you can...

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Apple and Samsung smartwatches need more buttons if they want more athletes

The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is meant to appeal to serious outdoors athletes, but relies on a touchscreen. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Earlier this week, Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. It’s Samsung’s most durable smartwatch ever and at Unpacked it was clear that the company intends the watch to appeal to outdoor athletes. Apple also revealed at WWDC that watchOS 9 will feature a ton of new running metrics, adding fuel to rumors that a rugged Apple Watch may be on the way. It’s clear that both companies are looking to lure in users from the Garmin and Polar crowd — but aside from battery life and durability, there’s another obstacle that could derail these efforts. Touchscreens.

For better or worse, Apple and Samsung have relied on touchscreen navigation on their smartwatches. That’s fine for casual exercise, or for the average person who isn’t traversing all...

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Channel stores are officially the hottest new thing in streaming

Image: YouTube

YouTube is building a system that would allow users to subscribe to streaming services through the YouTube app, The Wall Street Journal reported, and could launch the so-called “channel store” as early as this fall. The Journal’s report didn’t say which services might be part of the store, only that YouTube has been talking with various entertainment companies.

A channel store makes perfect sense for YouTube, and it’s been a long time in the works: The Information reported on a similar plan way back in early 2020. More recently, the company has been signaling this is coming: “I think whether content is distributed in a bundle, or where over time we explore other ways of distributing it, I think YouTube can be a great partner there,”...

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Now DoorDash could start delivering your Facebook Marketplace purchases, too

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

You may soon have the option to have your Facebook Marketplace purchases picked up and delivered by DoorDash. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is partnering with DoorDash to deliver Marketplace items located up to 15 miles away.

Not every item is eligible for delivery, though. Sources tell the WSJ that DoorDash will only deliver items that are small enough to fit in the trunk of a car, and that drivers are expected to make deliveries within 48 hours. Either way, it sounds like a helpful option for anyone who isn’t able to pick up an item themselves.

It also fills a gap in Facebook Marketplace’s existing local delivery options, which only lets you get larger items delivered through a...

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This customizable smart display is a fun desk accessory in need of a purpose

Part desk clock, part status board, all Nyan Cat

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With the Inflation Reduction Act, the US brings climate goals within reach

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks during a news conference on climate action outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, November 17th, 2021. | Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Congress has officially passed the Inflation Reduction Act after a successful House vote on Friday, clearing the way for the biggest clean energy package in US history. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law soon, bringing the US within eyeshot of reaching its climate goals under the Paris accord.

The bulk of the bill’s spending — $369 billion — goes toward building up domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles and clean energy technologies plus making homes and buildings more energy-efficient. There’s another $4 billion to promote drought resiliency in the western US. Outside of climate initiatives, the bill also spends $64 billion on healthcare subsidies to prevent insurance premiums from rising for people who buy...

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The best deals on 4K TVs

Samsung’s latest version of The Frame is cheaper than ever right now. | Image: Samsung

The future looks bright for those who are looking to nab a great TV at a substantial discount. Many manufacturers — including LG and Samsung — announced new versions of some of their most popular models earlier this year, ranging from The Frame and LG’s C2 lineup to Sony’s QD-OLED models. And now that manufacturers like Samsung and LG have officially launched their new TVs, we’re noticing prices falling on the last-gen, 2021 models. In some cases, we’re even beginning to see discounts on the newer 2022 models, including the aforementioned C2.

Right now, there are currently a number of discounted 4K TVs to choose from, spanning a wide variety of prices, size configurations, and feature sets. Whether you want a secondary TV for the bedroom...

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Apple held up Telegram’s latest update over emoji

The update is out now, but it doesn’t include Telemoji. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Telegram released a new update on Frida,y just one day after Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov said the update had been in Apple’s app review for two weeks without explanation. The update is packed with emoji-related features, but one is missing because Apple specifically requested its removal, according to Durov.

“After extensive media coverage of my previous post, Apple got back to us with a demand to water down our pending Telegram update by removing Telemoji — higher quality vector-animated versions of the standard emoji,” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel on Friday. “This is a puzzling move on Apple’s behalf, because Telemoji would have brought an entire new dimension to its static low-resolution emoji and would have...

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Twitch changes course, will now require masks at TwitchCon

Twitch was all set to hold a giant maskless convention in San Diego this October in the midst of monkeypox and the continued threat of COVID-19 — but after an outcry that included both attendees and some of its own streamer partners, the platform has decided to require masks and proof of vaccination once again.

“We’ve been listening to all of your feedback and know that many of you–especially those who are immunocompromised and the people who support them–want stricter health measures in place to help you feel safe attending TwitchCon San Diego in person,” reads the beginning of a major update to the company’s blog post announcing that tickets were on sale.

To attend TwitchCon, attendees 5 years and older now need to wear an snug mask...

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The Zoom installer let a researcher hack his way to root access on macOS

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A security researcher has found a way that an attacker could leverage the macOS version of Zoom to gain access over the entire operating system.

Details of the exploit were released in a presentation given by Mac security specialist Patrick Wardle at the Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas on Friday. Some of the bugs involved have already been fixed by Zoom, but the researcher also presented one unpatched vulnerability that still affects systems now.

The exploit works by targeting the installer for the Zoom application, which needs to run with special user permissions in order to install or remove the main Zoom application from a computer. Though the installer requires a user to enter their password on first adding the application to...

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Peloton gears up to hike prices, lay off 800 employees, and shutter stores

Peloton’s Bike Plus will return to its original $2,495 pricing from $1,995. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy had his job cut out for him when he took over the helm in February as the company laid off 2,800 employees. Now, roughly six months later, McCarthy has sent out a memo to staffers warning the company plans to eliminate an additional 784 jobs in a third round of layoffs, reports Bloomberg. Peloton will also increase the prices of the Bike Plus and Tread, while shuttering retail showrooms starting in 2023.

Peloton spokesperson Ben Boyd confirmed the news in a statement to The Verge, writing:

“Peloton, today, took several steps to further advance our transformation strategy, better positioning the company for long term success as the largest, global Connected Fitness company. The moves we made include, the...

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Endling - Extinction is Forever is not afraid to hurt you

Endling - Extinction is Forever title card | Herobeat Studios

In a video game climate that bends over backwards to assure you the cute little creatures you play as or with cannot be harmed, it was shocking to hear the mother fox’s neck snap in Endling - Extinction is Forever. I was running with my trio of kits, trying to escape the murderous clutches of a furrier when he caught me. I struggled as he held me down before I heard the crack of the bones as the screen went dark, informing me I had failed as a mother and that my cubs were going to die. And while I thought that was a little too much, that kind of unflinching look at the reality of survival in a world ruined by climate change is exactly what the developers were going for.

“We wanted to put everything there,” Javier Romello, CEO of Endling’...

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The auto industry lost its spectrum fight with the FCC because V2V was always a fantasy

V2V, or vehicle-to-vehicle technology, allows cars to receive messages about road conditions and crashes.

Today, the DC circuit court released its decision, siding with the Federal Communications Commission, on its reallocation of part of the 5.9GHz band. It’s a big win for the FCC and a big loss for the auto industry, which has promised to use the airwaves to improve safety through a technology called “vehicle-to-vehicle” (V2V) or “vehicle-to-everything” (V2X) communication.

The problem, as hilariously put by Judge Justin Walker in his opinion, is that this technology has never really existed. It was one of those “just around the corner”-type innovations that has always been promised but never actually delivered. It was a fantasy, and today, the court’s basically said as much.

The problem, as hilariously put by Judge Justin Walker in his...

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How to use Flex Mode on the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold

Samar Haddad; Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

So you’re the proud owner of one of Samsung’s foldables. Look at you, you early adopter! There are obviously a few more ways to use your phone than a typical slab-style phone, and that’s probably why you bought one.

Flex Mode is one of those features. That’s basically just a term for whenever you use the phone’s main screen folded halfway. It’s most useful if you want to set the phone down and use it hands-free, like for video calls, and some apps are optimized by default to take advantage of it.

Here’s how to use Flex Mode with the apps that support it natively — and also how to enable it for apps that don’t. I tested these steps on a Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 running One UI 4.1.1.

For apps that support Flex Mode

To enter...

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Ikea and Electrify America team up to install over 200 public fast chargers in 18 states

Image: Ikea / Electrify America

Get ready for your shortest walk-through of an Ikea store yet because Electrify America is bringing its fast charging EV network to more than 25 Ikea locations in the US (via Electrek).

The plan includes installing more than 220 individual fast chargers capable of charging up to 350kW speeds at Ikea stores in 18 different states. The first public chargers will make an appearance by the end of the year and the rest by the end of 2023.

“This collaboration with Electrify America will not only bring ultra-fast public chargers to our stores for the first time but it will also help us take a big leap as we work towards our targets to become circular and climate positive,” said Ikea US CEO Javier Quiñones. Ikea set that climate goal for 2030,...

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That Harry Potter prequel game is delayed again

Hogwarts Legacy | Warner Bros.

Hogwarts Legacy, the Harry Potter prequel game, has been delayed a second time according to a tweet from the game’s official Twitter account.

Hogwarts Legacy will launch on February 10, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The Nintendo Switch launch date will be revealed soon. The team is excited for you to play, but we need a little more time to deliver the best possible game experience. pic.twitter.com/zh0EsOvDb7

— Hogwarts Legacy (@HogwartsLegacy) August 12, 2022

This delay pushes the game from its 2022 launch date to February 10th, 2023. Back in January of last year, developer Portkey Games stated that the delay was to ensure the game received “the time it needs.” Today’s statement echoes that sentiment as the developers are once...

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California aims to score big in the race for offshore wind

A wind turbine generates electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 7th, 2022, near Block Island, Rhode Island. | Photo by John Moore/Getty Images

California has set a hella ambitious goal to build up its offshore wind industry. The Golden State is aiming to reach 25,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2045, about as much as all of Europe has today.

The target set by the California Energy Commission on Wednesday is the biggest commitment any state has made yet to develop wind farms off of their coasts. The goal is even more monumental considering the US’s fledgling offshore wind industry has really only gained a foothold on the East Coast.

So far, there are two small projects off the coasts of Rhode Island and Virginia capable of generating just 42 megawatts of electricity. The first commercial-scale wind farm, to be built off the coast of Massachusetts, just received f...

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Apple asked for a cut of Facebook’s ad sales years before it stifled Facebook’s ad sales

Apple wanted a cut of boosted posts. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple and Meta may not be the best of friends right now, but at one point, Apple was in discussions with the social media company about how it could make more money from its presence on the App Store, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple reportedly argued that it deserved a cut of certain portions of Facebook’s ad revenue. The specific ads in question were boosted posts, which let users pay to have their posts reach more people, the WSJ reports. Apple apparently argued boosted posts are in-app purchases, which it famously takes a portion of; Meta argued that they were ads, from which Apple doesn’t get a share. It seems that Meta won out.

They also discussed a subscription that would remove ads

The two companies also had...

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Eight photo-centric social sites that are not Instagram

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In a recent (and very funny) blog post, The Verge’s Liz Lopatto bemoans the ad-ification and TikTok-ification of Instagram and other social media sites. “Can someone just build a simple photo app that isn’t sleazy and let me know where it is so that my friends can join it?” she asks. And she apparently hasn’t been the only one — it’s gotten to the point where Instagram is starting to walk back some of its changes due to user complaints.

The comments section of Liz’s post soon became filled with various suggestions for alternative photo sites where you could post your cat pix and other cute / funny / beautiful photos and have your friends and family be able to admire and discuss them. I took a look at some of them (and some that I found...

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California ban on ‘addictive’ social media fails

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A proposal to let parents sue over addictive social media features failed in the California legislature this week. The bill, AB 2408, failed to pass out of committee for a full state Senate vote. It at least temporarily ends a controversial push to increase liability for social media in the state — an increasingly common practice among legislators.

AB 2408, or the Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act, was one of numerous state-level social media proposals. It would have authorized civil penalties against social networks whose designs caused a “child user ... to become addicted to the platform,” either by design or in a way the operators should have known was harmful. It would not have applied to social networks that generate less...

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Amazon is getting into mental health care with a Ginger partnership

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon is everywhere: in the doctor’s office, in people’s homes, in their shopping carts, and now — in their therapist’s office, too.Amazon’s virtual healthcare program, Amazon Care, now includes a partnership with mental health company Ginger, according to an Amazon Care webpage. The new offerings were first reported by Insider.

The webpage outlines the behavioral health options available through Amazon Care. Primary care providers on the platform can respond to some low-grade issues, like mild anxiety. For more serious concerns, patients can be referred to providers outside of Amazon Care. Ginger, a digital mental health platform that gives people 24/7 access to mental health coaches and therapists, will be available as an optional...

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An open letter to the Tesla fan who wants to run over a kid to prove a point

Take a deep breath and step away from the car. | Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Dear Tesla fan who wants to run over a kid to prove a point,

Hi, my name’s Andy and I’m a transportation editor. I saw on Twitter — yes, I know, not a great place to see things — that you were going to run over a kid to prove a point. Something about Tesla and Autopilot and some video on Twitter — again, bad place, should avoid — of a test showing a Tesla vehicle running over a kid-sized dummy and you wanting to prove that those tests are bogus and wrong so you were going to try to run over a real kid to prove your point.

It’s 2022, and Teslas still aren’t stopping for children. pic.twitter.com/GGBh6sAYZS

— Taylor Ogan (@TaylorOgan) August 9, 2022

Is there anyone in the Bay Area with a child who can run in front of my car on Full...

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Wemo’s Stage Scene Controller is the light switch evolved

A souped-up smart button for Apple’s HomeKit smart home

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Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy Buds 2 earbuds with noise cancellation are just $99.99

The Galaxy Buds 2 and their wireless charging case have a very compact design. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

We’re just a couple days removed from Samsung’s Unpacked event, where it announced two new foldable phones, two new smartwatches, and one new premium set of earbuds — the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. While there are some trade-in deals if you preorder those buds before their release on August 26th, there’s a better deal happening on the similarly named base model.

Right now, you can get the excellent value that is the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 for just $99.99 ($50 off) at Best Buy and Amazon. That matches their lowest price, and unlike some previous occasions, these are USA models that come with a full warranty. They’re also available in nearly all colors, including Best Buy’s exclusive darker phantom black.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are sure to offer...

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Vergecast: Samsung’s newest foldables and Disney’s prices go up

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Fridays, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

On today’s show, Nilay, David, and Alex are joined by Verge senior news editor Richard Lawler to discuss the foldable phones announced at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event this week: the Z Fold 4 and the Z Flip 4. Samsung basically owns the foldable category in the US, and the devices are getting better with each generation. But do people actually hold on to them? The crew shares their...

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These pole-mounted EV chargers let down their joules

A Nissan Leaf being fed from a pole-mounted EV charger in Melrose, MA | Image: Only In Boston

Electric utility poles do a lot for us: they power our homes, take nails for our yard sale and lost cat signs, and shine light for our streets at night. But arguably their greatest contribution yet is helping EV owners juice up their cars. We’re talking about pole-mounted EV chargers, an awesome and apparently feasible public charging solution found in a few places like Melrose, Massachusetts, which recently installed several with the help of the local utility, National Grid.

The utility company worked with the city of Melrose to install the elevated chargers around town, helping EV owners who otherwise don’t have access to a garage or private parking space with dedicated charging. And according to the company, these charging stations...

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CalDigit’s TS4 is the new king of Thunderbolt docks

All the ports and all the power

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Why it’s taking so long to encrypt Facebook Messenger

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

After a high-profile incident in which subpoenaed Facebook messages led to felony charges for a 17-year-old girl and her mother in a Nebraska abortion case, Meta said Thursday that it would expand testing of end-to-end encryption in Messenger ahead of a planned global rollout.

This week, the company will automatically begin to add end-to-end encryption in Messenger chats for more people. In the coming weeks, it will also increase the number of people who can begin using end-to-end encryption on direct messages in Instagram.

Meanwhile, the company has begun to test a feature called “secure storage” that will allow users to restore their chat history when they install Messenger on a new device. Backups can be locked by a PIN, and the...

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Xiaomi shows what a foldable could look like if Samsung had competition

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 displayed in a gold finish. | Image: Xiaomi

The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 has launched in China just days after Samsung announced its next generation of foldable handsets, with Xiaomi looking to gain an advantage over its competition with a slimmer design, bigger displays, and a more affordable price.

The Mix Fold 2 has several improvements over the original Mi Mix Fold released last year that go beyond dropping the Mi branding. The Fold 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 SoC flagship chipset, with 12GB of RAM and several storage options ranging from 256GB to 1TB. It also features an improved hinge and comes in either gold or black.

Image: Xiaomi

Just in case you wanted to know if the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 looks good in black.

As a foldable,...

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How an online community took back the Legend of Zelda

Haeun Jang / The Verge

Ship of Harkinian is a labor of love years in the making

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