Foreign automakers are big mad about the new EV tax credit

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

The auto industry is still processing the new and confusing electric vehicle credits signed into law by President Joe Biden as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Foreign automakers, in particular, are scrambling to find some loophole through the new rules that would seem to disqualify the vast majority of their EV fleets, while others are speeding up plans to build new factories in the US.

EVs built outside North America are not eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. The law also includes provisions aimed at preventing use of battery components or critical minerals derived from China, which currently controls around three-fourths of the global battery market.

EVs built outside North America are not eligible for the $7,500 tax...

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Reddit’s CEO explains why he’s still big on the blockchain

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Crypto critics have had a very good year. Much of what they predicted has come to pass: that high-profile projects would be revealed as Ponzi schemes; that security lapses would lead to massive thefts; and that average people would be left holding the bag. Bitcoin, which was trading around $67,000 in November, is at $21,570 today; plenty of other cryptocurrencies are much worse off.

As I noted here last month, though, on social networks it can feel like the crypto crash really never happened. Over the past few months, Facebook and Instagram added ways for users to showcase non-fungible tokens, and Spotify let artists use NFTs as their profile pictures.

The origin of that piece was the news that Reddit, the venerable social news...

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Montblanc Summit 3 review: a watch for nobody

A $400 smartwatch for just $1,290

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Moderna is suing Pfizer over its coronavirus vaccine

Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Moderna is suing Pfizer and BioNTech over alleged infringement of its mRNA vaccine technology patents, the company announced today.

“We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Moderna chief executive officer Stéphane Bancel in a statement.

Moderna said in 2020 that it would not enforce its patents during the pandemic to allow for an unhindered public health response. It’s still not planning to enforce patents in low- and middle-income countries, the company said in a statement. But it’s coming after Pfizer and BioNTech, which it said it expected to “respect its...

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A huge phishing campaign has targeted over 130 companies, including Twilio and Signal

The 0ktapus phishing campaign is one of the best-executed security attacks of this scale to date. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Over 130 organizations, including Twilio, DoorDash, and Signal, have been potentially compromised by hackers as part of a months-long phishing campaign nicknamed “0ktapus” by security researchers. Login credentials belonging to nearly 10,000 individuals were stolen by attackers who imitated the popular single sign-on service Okta, according to a report from cybersecurity outfit Group-IB.

Targets were sent text messages that redirected them to a phishing site. As the report from Group-IB states, “From the victim’s point of view, the phishing site looks quite convincing as it is very similar to the authentication page they are used to seeing.” Victims were asked for their username, password, and a two-factor authentication code. This...

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LG’s latest OLED monitor has a super-quick 240Hz refresh rate

LG UltraGear OLED Gaming Monitor (45GR95QE). | Image: LG

LG has announced a new 45-inch ultrawide OLED gaming monitor with a refresh rate of 240Hz. The company is calling the UltraGear 45GR95QE its “first curved OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate,” which is notable at a time when most OLED displays (including those with flat panels) are still capped at 120Hz. The company is yet to announce pricing or a release date for the monitor, but plans to show it off at IFA in Berlin next month.

Having a higher refresh rate means a display appears smoother and less juddery, and video games feel more responsive to play — especially when combined with OLED’s near-instantaneous response times. Until recently it was rare to find an OLED display with a refresh rate of over 120Hz, but that’s changed in...

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Duolingo has math now (and it’s kind of hard)

Coming soon to an iPhone or iPad near you. | Image: Duolingo

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Duolingo, the language learning app famous for the owl that haunts my dreams every night, now has a companion app to teach you (and children — but mostly you, reader) mathematics.

To get the most pressing question out of the way: yes, the owl is present in the new app, which is called Duolingo Math. However, said bird appears to have been compressed into a cube of sorts. I am unsure if it continues to qualify as an owl in this new form factor. I do suppose a mascot reclassification wouldn’t be amiss here, since owls can’t do math. Come on now. This isn’t fantasyland.

It took me four tries to pull this screenshot from the opening animation. You’re welcome.

As someone who has...

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Elon Musk says Tesla cars will connect to Starlink’s new cellular-broadcasting satellites

Soon with satellite connectivity. | Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge

Elon Musk just announced that the upcoming second-generation Starlink internet satellites include cellular antennas for connections with phones from T-Mobile in the US, and potentially other operators as well.

Following the event, he responded to tweets asking whether the connections will work with Tesla’s electric cars, which currently connect to AT&T’s LTE network. According to Musk, the answer is yes.

Yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2022

He didn’t go into detail about how it will all work or how much data owners could expect to access from the connections when they’re somewhere out of reach by terrestrial cellphone towers. Musk said during the event that the satellite-to-cellular coverage from Starlink will be capable of...

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T-Mobile and SpaceX Starlink say your 5G phone will connect to satellites next year

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

T-Mobile says it’s getting rid of mobile dead zones thanks to a new partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet, at an event hosted by T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert and Elon Musk.

According to Musk, second-generation Starlink satellites launching next year will be able to broadcast service using part of T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G spectrum. Musk said the new satellites will have “big, big antennas” to enable the new connections, and that the plan is to launch the equipment using its upcoming Starship rocket. The two execs said they’re seeking partnerships with mobile carriers around the world who would be interested in reciprocal spectrum sharing agreements so that their customers can link up with SpaceX, and when T-Mobile customers...

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The new Steam Deck ebook lays out Valve’s long-term vision

This is the first Steam Deck, but based on Valve’s book, it sounds like there will be others. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

On Thursday, Valve released a digital “booklet” all about the Steam Deck, Steam, and the company itself. Valve says it released the book ahead of the Steam Deck’s launch in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but the book also happens to arrive on the six-month anniversary of when Valve sent the first order emails allowing people to buy their Steam Deck.

The 52-page ebook is free, and if you’re at all interested in Valve or the Steam Deck, I’d recommend flipping through it. Not only are there a few pages littered with Steam Deck prototypes, but you’ll also be able to read about Valve’s ambitions for the Steam Deck in its own words.

Hello! We wrote a small book about Steam Deck, Steam, and Valve. We're pretty happy with how it...

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Instagram tightens default content settings for teens

New teenage users will be defaulted to a newsfeed that shows less sensitive content | Image: Instagram

Instagram announced the platform is rolling out a feature that defaults accounts for new users under 16 years old to “Less,” the most restrictive setting for Sensitive Content Control. Teenagers already on Instagram will get push notifications “encouraging” them to opt-in to the heavier filtering on what the algorithm shows them across Search, Explore, Hashtag Pages, Reels, Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Accounts.

The “Standard” setting in Instagram only lets users see some content deemed sensitive, while the “Less” option tightens the restrictions even further, and the “More” option allows users to see more sensitive content or accounts than the default settings. While users over 18 years old typically have access to “Standard,”...

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The best laptop you can buy in 2022

Image: William Joel/The Verge

The best laptops for you, from ultraportables to high-powered editing machines

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The US government got caught using sock puppets to spread propaganda on social media

Spreading memes and fake news to countries like Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

While countries like Russia and China have been making headlines for years with their disinformation and propaganda campaigns on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, it turns out that the US and other Western countries have been playing the same game. A recent report (pdf) from social network analysis firm Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory has uncovered a series of operations, some covert and some less so, that aimed to “promote pro-Western narratives” in countries like Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran (via Gizmodo).

According to the report, Twitter and Meta removed a group of accounts from their platforms earlier this month, citing their platform manipulation and coordinated inauthentic behavior rules. Analyzing the...

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New patent may reveal how Apple could pull off a no-notch iPhone 14 Pro

The iPhone 14 Pro is rumored to replace the notch with a pill-shaped cutout and a hole punch for a selfie cam. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple is rumored to ditch the notch in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max in favor of a pill-shaped cutout and a spot for the selfie cam, and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published a patent application that seems to show how the company could do that, according to Patently Apple (via 9to5Mac).

The patent application covers several possible variants of a device that combines a camera, an infrared light emitter, and a “light folding element” that can redirect the IR light. The application describes how a light-folded projector can be used to reduce the footprint of these components, leaving more display area on the phone.

The notch currently houses a lot of technology, including a selfie camera, an infrared camera, a depth...

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It’s settled: 6.1 inches is the ideal smartphone screen size

You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

I come to you today with good and bad news. The bad news is that small phones are dead. Apple is all but certainly killing off the iPhone Mini this year, and the smallest Android phone I’ve used all year is the 5.9-inch Asus Zenfone 9 — quite a bit larger than the 5.4-inch Mini. But that’s what passes for “small” now.

Here’s the good news. We can at long last lay to rest the debate over what’s the right size for a phone because I just made up an answer: 6.1 inches. All phones henceforth shall adhere to the new, entirely reasonable standard I have invented and come with a 6.1-inch screen. Take the Google Pixel 6A and its — you guessed it — 6.1-inch screen. Next to the 6.4 and 6.7-inch Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, it’s downright tiny. It fooled me...

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The best Chromebook for 2022

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 | Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best Chromebook for anyone who wants Chrome OS on their laptop

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Judge rejects Elon Musk’s ‘absurdly broad’ data requests

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

After a hearing on discovery requests from lawyers representing both Elon Musk and Twitter, Judge Kathaleen McCormick gave a firm “no” to the Musk team’s “absurdly broad” request in favor of a much smaller set of information. However, Twitter must hand over some additional data relating to how it calculates the “monetizable daily active users” (mDAU) statistic and its associated bot activity estimate that Musk argues is fraudulent.

Musk’s lawyers wanted “all of the data Twitter might possibly store for each of the approximately 200 million accounts included in its mDAU count every day for nearly three years,” covering trillions of data points, McCormick wrote in her ruling. “Plaintiff [Twitter] has difficulty quantifying the burden of...

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How to switch your Quest from a Facebook account to a Meta account

Samar Haddad / The Verge

If you’ve bought an Meta (formerly known as Oculus) Quest or Quest 2 virtual reality headset in the past few years, you’ve likely had to set it up using a Facebook account. While that makes sense given that the device is made by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, there are a few potential downsides to having your Facebook account and Quest linked. For example, if your account gets banned because of something that happens on Facebook, you may lose access to the games you’ve purchased for Oculus.

Thankfully, Meta recently started rolling out a new type of account that you can log in to your Oculus with, so you can decouple your Quest from your Facebook profile. They’re called Meta accounts, and it’s relatively easy to make the switch on a...

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The best budget laptop of 2022

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best cheap laptops from HP, Lenovo, and more.

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Mark Zuckerberg confirms new Meta VR headset will launch in October

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that Meta’s next virtual reality headset will arrive in October. Zuckerberg made the comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast, indicating the device — almost certainly the headset codenamed “Project Cambria” — will likely launch around the company’s annual Connect event.

“For the next device that’s coming out in October, there’s a few big features,” Zuckerberg said, discussing VR at the beginning of the podcast. He proceeded to describe new social options that would be enabled by eye and facial tracking. “The ability to now have kind of eye contact in virtual reality,” Zuckerberg said as part of the feature list. “Have your face be tracked so that way your avatar — it’s not just this still thing, but if you...

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Ford hikes the price for the 2023 Mustang Mach-E by as much as $8,000

Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge

Ford is raising the price of the 2023 Mustang Mach-E a few weeks after doing the same to its other major EV, the F-150 Lightning.

The automaker announced that it was reopening the order banks for the popular electric SUV with an adjusted MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail price) that reflects “significant material cost increases, continued strain on key supply chains, and rapidly evolving market conditions” — the same reason it gave for hiking the price on the F-150 Lightning.

“Significant material cost increases”

Here’s a breakdown of the new prices, with the model year 2022 price in parentheses:

• Select RWD Standard Range: $46,895 ($43,895)
• Select eAWD Standard Range: $49,595
• California Route 1 eAWD Extended Range: $63,575 ($52,450) ...

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Google Maps and search will label health clinics that provide abortions

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google Maps and Search will now explicitly label healthcare facilities that provide abortion services, TechCrunch reported. It’s another change made in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and end federal protection for abortion.

Searching “abortion clinics near me” will now let users see which places are confirmed to offer abortion services. If Google doesn’t have confirmation, the label will read “might not provide abortions.” If there aren’t results nearby, it’ll give an option to expand the search to farther away.

The move comes after a Bloomberg report that Google Maps shows crisis pregnancy centers — which do not provide abortions and often distribute misinformation about the safe medical procedure —...

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Honor 70 arrives in the UK on September 2nd for £480

The Honor 70. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge

A little under three months after it was first announced in China, Honor has launched its midrange Honor 70 smartphone in the UK. The phone is set to start at £480 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, rising to £530 for 256GB of storage. Both versions will go on general sale on September 2nd, with preorders opening tomorrow. Stay tuned for our full review next week.

Compared to last year’s Honor 50, the Honor 70’s camera specs are a lot better balanced this time around. (An Honor 60 was announced in China in December but never saw a global release.) Rather than pairing an incredibly high-resolution 108-megapixel camera with three extra sensors totaling just 12-megapixels in resolution between them, the Honor 70 balances a 54-megapixel...

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Harvestella turns Stardew Valley into a Square Enix RPG

I can’t wait to grow carrops in Harvestella_._ | Image: Square Enix

Nintendo just shared a detailed look at Harvestella, the upcoming farming sim / RPG from Square Enix, in its latest Treehouse Live presentation, and after watching the video, the game is now one of my most anticipated titles of the year.

The farming looks like many other farming sims you might have played — and I think that’s a good thing. You’ll have a plot of land where you’ll work with your crops, and you can plant and water things on a tile-based grid. The actual mechanics appear to be fairly streamlined, so hopefully they don’t get tedious; I was particularly happy to see that the “water wand” was generous with where it tossed water. Some crops have clever names, too, meaning you’ll be growing things like “carrops” and “cucumbles”...

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After 18 years, Meta’s finally building Facebook a customer service division

It’s hard to tell what it’ll look like at this point. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Meta is trying to make it easier for its users to get support when their accounts or posts are removed, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report quotes Brent Harris, Meta’s vice president of governance, who says that the company is “spending a bunch of time on” customer service. Since Facebook’s inception, people haven’t really had any recourse or way to talk to the company about moderation decisions.

At this stage, it doesn’t seem clear what Meta’s customer service division will actually do. Last year, the company piloted a live chat support program that gave some English-speaking users a way to actually talk to a human at Meta if they needed help using a new feature or got locked out of their accounts. At the time, the company...

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Juicy Marbles’ filet mignon is good plant-based meat but not great steak

A real meat-and-potatoes meal. | Photo: Mitchell Clark / The Verge

It’s hard to stand out in the world of plant-based meats, but Juicy Marbles is trying to do so by attempting to replicate not just a steak but also one of the higher-end cuts: the filet mignon. When the company reached out to The Verge asking if we wanted to try its steaks, its promises of a tender filet that’s marbled and cooks like a real steak caught my attention, as someone who swore off eating meat for two years (but who still gets a little jealous of the delicious-looking things my wife eats). The price also caught my attention — $40 for a four-pack of four-ounce steaks. For the mathematicians at home, that’s $40 a pound.

Having eaten plenty of plant-based meats, though, I know that marketing materials can be very deceiving and...

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Peloton CEO thinks losing $1.2 billion is a sign of ‘substantial progress’

You gotta love the spin. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Peloton’s numbers don’t look great. In its Q4 2022 earnings release this morning, the company reported a $1.2 billion operating loss, a 28 percent revenue drop, a membership decline, and a monthly subscriber churn exceeding 1 percent for the first time in a long while. (Perhaps ever?) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In a nutshell, losses were greater than both Peloton and investors had anticipated.

And yet, Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy would have you believe the numbers actually paint a picture of “substantial progress” and the true start of Peloton’s comeback story.

“The naysayers will look at our Q4 financial performance and see a melting pot of declining revenue, negative gross margin, and deeper operating losses. They will say...

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Hear me out: chill your earbuds before you wear them

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Summer is running out, but I accidentally stumbled upon a weird hack that I might come back to for the warmer months. One day recently, before I headed to the office, I tossed some Pixel Buds A-Series wireless earbuds into my messenger bag, and they somehow settled near my packed lunch and the ice pack keeping it cool. I didn’t expect that those earbuds would catch a chill from being close to them, but when I popped them in my ears, the cool sensation was both unexpected and amazing. I kind of felt like I was in a dramatized breath mint commercial, and I can’t stop doing it.

You might be turned off by the idea of inserting earbuds that are anything other than a reflection of the ambient temperature. Perhaps I can win you over by saying...

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Twitter is becoming a podcast app

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is officially getting into podcasts. The app will launch a test version of Twitter Spaces today that includes podcasts, letting you listen to full shows through curated playlists based on your interests.

The redesigned Spaces tab opens with Stations, topic-based playlists combining podcast episodes pulled from RSS with Twitter’s social audio events and recordings. It functions like a Pandora station but for spoken word and is pretty different from the a la carte listening podcast consumers are used to on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Live and upcoming spaces are still in the tab, further down the page. The test will roll out to a random group of users across the world, initially only in English.

Image: Twitter ...

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Instacart is enlisting celebrities and influencers to make your shopping list — in case that’s helpful

Image: Instacart

Instacart customers who know they need sustenance but don’t know what to buy will soon be able to browse suggestions from celebrities. Beginning today, the company is rolling out product collections curated by public figures, influencers, and retailers for customers to shop from.

The new feature, called Carts, will display lists of grocery items themed around events (“Game Day” or “Self Care Sunday”) or picked by celebrities that customers can add to their own carts. Musician Lizzo is one of the first celebrities to be featured.

In the blog announcing the new feature, Instacart says the curated carts will help inspire customer purchases — helpful, perhaps, if you often find yourself browsing aimlessly while ordering...

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