More midrange Android phones will have AI features next year with the new Snapdragon chips

Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s next generation of mobile processors should help bring flagship features to more midrange devices. The chipmaker announced two new chips — the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 — that come bundled with AI enhancements and hardware to support 5G.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the more powerful of the pair, with the ability to shoot pictures at up to 200 megapixels and HDR video capture. It also comes with “intuitive AI assistance” that can help suggest apps and settings based on your activity. Qualcomm says the SoC’s (system on a chip) CPU performs up to 40 percent better than the Snapdragon 695 it released last year, while its GPU performs up to 35 percent better.

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, on the other hand, seems less...

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The best deals on Nintendo Switch games right now

Right now, there are discounts on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a handful of other essential Switch titles. | Image: Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular consoles ever released, one with an ever-expanding library of games to choose from. Odds are if a game is capable of working on the Switch’s hardware, it’s either already available or it will be soon.

Thankfully, a number of games are currently receiving price breaks if you’re looking to expand your collection, including first-gen offerings like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and remasters likeTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. However, if you want to add some less conventional titles to your collection, the turn-based thriller, Phantom Doctrine, and the high-school kaiju mashup, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, are also discounted right now.

Below, we’ve rounded up some of the deals on Nintendo...

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First Android 13 patch for Pixels fixes wireless charging and battery drain problems

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is rolling out patches to fix some Pixel bugs after the phones received the latest Android 13 update last month. The September 2022 monthly update is being delivered throughout the week to most devices, addressing issues like unexpected battery drain and disabled wireless charging.

The patch won’t arrive on Google’s newest phone, the Pixel 6A, until later this month. The Pixel 6A has one fix specifically included in the list, addressing its fingerprint scanner’s recognition “in certain conditions.” As noted by Consumer Reports, some owners of the new phone have found it will unlock using a finger they hadn’t registered or for the fingerprint of an entirely different person.

Screenshot: Richard Lawler / The Verge...

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Cyberpunk 2077’s new update adds cross-platform saves, mod management, and more

Image: CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a new performance mode for Xbox Series S, an official tool for installing and making mods, and a big improvement to outfits via the 1.6 Edgerunners update, which was announced alongside the Phantom Liberty DLC pack. Like the DLC, it seems like most future updates to the game will be for next-gen consoles only; the company says 1.6 will be “the last major update” for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The update is available to download today for all platforms (though the modding tools are limited to the PC), including those last-gen consoles. On the Xbox Series X, it’s a 39.6GB download.

Image: CD Projekt Red

You can create up to six outfits and switch between them at...

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Juul will pay $438.5 million to states over youth vaping investigation

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Juul will pay $438.5 million to settle an investigation by dozens of US states into the marketing practices blamed for kicking off the teen and youth vaping crisis.

“JUUL’s cynically calculated advertising campaigns created a new generation of nicotine addicts,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in a statement announcing the deal Tuesday. The two-year investigation found Juul marketed to underage users, had misleading packaging that hid the amount of nicotine in its devices, and created a product that could be easily concealed.

The settlement also puts restrictions on its marketing practices going forward: the company said it won’t fund education programs, include people under 35 in marketing, sell merchandise, or give out...

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New Xbox noise suppression will remove breathing, clicks, and music in party chats

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

If you have Xbox friends that like to breathe heavily into their microphones, blast loud music in the background, or click loudly on their controller, the new Xbox noise suppression feature is here to save you. Xbox Series X and S owners are getting an update today that has noise suppression during party chats to remove annoying clicks, background music, and breathing.

Noise suppression is enabled by default, but Microsoft notes that it’s easy to toggle on or off. “If you want to keep some types of background noise in your parties, like music, you can also turn noise suppression off,” explains an Xbox support note. “Just open the guide, scroll to Parties & chats, and select Options. There you can enable or disable noise suppression.”

X...

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AMC Plus’ Pantheon is a haunting hyperproductivity nightmare that shouldn’t feel so real

Image: Titmouse

In AMC’s Pantheon, being online is an entirely new kind of hell

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You can customize this keyboard with your own Legos

Image: MelGeek

This Lego-friendly mechanical keyboard from MelGeek lets you swap out more than just its keycaps and switches (via Gizmodo). If you happen to have a bunch of Lego bricks sitting around, you can redesign the entire case thanks to the Lego studs planted across the sides and bottom of the board.

The keyboard is, fittingly, called the Pixel, and while it’s not officially licensed by Lego, you can build out just about any design — and maybe even incorporate an existing set — right on the case. It sports a tenkeyless design, making it a step down from full-sized boards, as it doesn’t come with a number pad.

Image: MelGeek

You can frame your keyboard with a sweet Lego design.

But the case isn’t just the only thing...

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New and returning customers can get $60 off a three-month Hulu with Live TV subscription

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

We’ve got some good news for both Marvel and sports fans: you can save $60 while watching both Marvel’s new Thor: Love and Thunder and football this week as a part of Hulu’s latest sale. In honor of the NFL season kicking off this Thursday, September 8th, Hulu is offering both new and returning customers a Hulu with Live TV subscription for $49.99 instead of $69.99 per month for three months.

The monthly subscription grants members access to over 75 live sports, news, and entertainment channels and access to Hulu’s streaming library (albeit with ads). But (confusingly — and randomly — enough) it also means you’ll be able to access ESPN Plus and Disney Plus, so you can stream Marvel’s latest theatrical release as well as Disney’s...

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Meta will reveal its new high-end VR headset on October 11th

New Meta hardware is on the horizon. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta has announced that its Connect Conference will be livestreamed on October 11th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT. In a post on the Oculus blog, the company says it’ll cover the progress it’s made on the metaverse and offer “a look at what’s to come in the near and far future.” The announcements can’t measure up to last year’s Connect, where the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta, but the company has said we’ll see information on the Horizon Worlds virtual reality app and hinted that the high-end “Project Cambria” headset will show up as well.

Last month, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the company is announcing a new VR headset in October, and on Tuesday, he backed up that idea with an image he posted to Facebook. The device he’s wearing in...

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Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus are $100 off at Best Buy today

Both tablets are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Just like with Thanksgiving, sometimes the leftovers are the best part. Sifting through some of the remaining deals from the Labor Day weekend, we’ve found some excellent discounts on Samsung’s S8 lineup of tablets. Both the standard Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus, for instance, are discounted by $100 at Best Buy, bringing the prices of the 128GB configurations down to $599.99 and $799.99, respectively.

Both the S8 and S8 Plus bring some excellent upgrades to Samsung’s tablet lineup with the inclusion of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU, Wi-Fi 6E support, and 8GB of RAM. The S8 and S8 Plus also come loaded with Android 12 out of the box and are slated to receive updates to Android 13 down the line. They both also come packaged with...

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Andreessen Horowitz wants to fix NFT copyright with its ‘Can’t Be Evil’ license

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is trying to clean up the messy state of crypto copyright. Last week, the company introduced what it dubs “Can’t Be Evil” licenses: a series of agreements that let creators grant non-fungible token owners partial or near-complete rights to NFT art. It’s fighting a problem many experts have called out — one that’s persistently undercut claims that NFTs let you “own” a work.

The “Can’t Be Evil” licenses (named after a common claim about blockchain businesses) are based on the Creative Commons (CC) copyright framework. But unlike Creative Commons, which provides blanket licenses to wide swathes of people, a16z’s licenses lay out the relationship between an NFT buyer and the person who created...

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How YouTube broke up with PewDiePie (then got back together again)

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The controversial creator became a thorn in YouTube’s side — then a glaring omission

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Google announces October 6th event to launch the Pixel Watch and Pixel 7

Image: Google

Google has started sending out invites for its fall hardware event, which is set to take place on Thursday, October 6th, at 10AM ET. The event will launch the upcoming Pixel 7 phones, as well as the Pixel Watch — the company showed off both devices at its I/O event earlier this year, announcing they’re coming in the fall.

Google’s announcement comes just one day before Apple’s Far Out event, where it will reveal the iPhone 14 — you can follow all the news about those announcements here. Since Google’s last event, purported leaks have revealed even more about the devices, with both the Watch and phones seemingly making their way into people’s hands.

It's all coming together.

Join us live for #MadeByGoogle on October 6th at 10am ET.

Sign...

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC is next-gen-only in 2023

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | Image: CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077 is getting its first DLC. CD Projekt Red has announced Phantom Liberty, an adventure taking place in a new district within the sprawling Night City.

The trailer doesn’t reveal much — only that your protagonist, V, is taking an oath of allegiance to serve the New United States of America. Johnny Silverhand returns as the ghost in your head warning you that swearing yourself to the New United States is a “bad idea.” But just how bad could it be when you get to explore a mysterious part of the city and get awesome new weapons like a totally badass electric whip?

Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red informed us that new DLC would be forthcoming but not until 2023. In the meantime, fans can scratch their Cyberpunk 2077 itch with a...

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Anker’s 30W Nano 3 looks like Apple’s tiny iPhone plug, but it can charge laptops

Image: Anker

Anker’s making its smallest charger even smaller and cheaper at $22.99. The new Anker 511 Nano 3 charger is a 30-watt single USB-C charger that’s designed for fast charging an iPhone or iPad and can even power a MacBook Air — all with a charger that’s about the size of Apple’s old 5W charger it used to include with iPhones.

Just like last year’s model, the Nano 3 is a gallium nitride (GaN) charger that can output more power from smaller and cooler packaging. It doesn’t use the company’s new GaNPrime tech introduced in July, but the Nano 3 does have foldable blades that make pocketing it less stabby.

Image: Anker

Compared to Apple’s 30W USB-C charger, the new Nano 3 is about 70 percent smaller, according to Anker. It...

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Decoding the secrets inside Apple’s event invitations

Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Apple’s next event is just around the corner, and die-hard fans have been scouring the latest invitation for clues about what new products and features may be in the cards. It’s a long-held belief that Apple hides things inside its event invitations, but we wondered whether this search for secrets ever bore any fruit (sorry) — and if it did, what sort of hints there are.

To find out, we scoured every invitation over the past 21 years and compared them against the various products subsequently announced at each event. And it turns out, again and again, Apple buries clues in plain sight. But discerning their meaning is not so simple. Apple appears to use several frequently varied approaches to leaving hints that are often difficult to...

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Brazil says Apple can’t keep selling iPhones that don’t come with a charger

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The Brazilian government isn’t happy about Apple’s decision to stop including chargers starting with the launch of the iPhone 12 and has responded by suspending local sales of iPhones that don’t come packaged with chargers. In addition to halting some iPhone sales, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security also ordered Apple to pay a fine of R$12,275,500 (about $2.3 million USD) and canceled the iPhone 12’s registration with Anatel, Brazil’s telecommunications agency that is similar to the FCC.

Brazil’s ban comes just one day ahead of Apple’s Far Out event, where it’s expected to reveal the new iPhone 14 (which likely won’t come boxed with a charger). Apple can still appeal its decision to ban certain iPhone sales in the country,...

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Sony announced camouflaged PS5 accessories, but I can’t see them

Image: Sony

Next up on Sony’s list of colorways to coat its PS5 accessories is gray camouflage. The company released a YouTube video allegedly showing off a DualSense, Pulse 3D headset, and console covers, all clad in camouflage. I say “allegedly” because I’m taking Sony’s word for it. I can’t see the accessories, so the camo must be working.

Preorders for these accessories will begin on Thursday, September 15th, and Sony details in its blog post that the DualSense and console covers will release on October 14th through its official online store in several regions. They’ll make their way to other retailers starting October 28th. The Pulse 3D headset will release in December. Hey, if you want to preorder these gadgets sight unseen, be our guest.

G...

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Signal names Google walkout organizer as new company president

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Signal officially has a new president.

For the newly created position, the company behind the encrypted messaging app has hired Meredith Whittaker, a former Google manager and co-founder of the AI Now Institute.

Whittaker made the announcement herself in a post on the Signal blog, where she outlined the strategic nature of the role in guiding the organization towards long-term sustainability.

“As President I will dedicate myself to helping Signal build a long taproot so it can grow and thrive in dynamic climates,” Whittaker wrote. “In this role I will be working with Signal’s CEO and leadership, with a particular focus on guiding Signal’s strategy, ensuring our financial sustainability, sharpening and broadening Signal’s public...

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A closer look at the beautiful sci-fi art behind Love, Death and Robots

Concept art for “The Very Pulse of the Machine” | Image: Titan Books

A new book explores the visual styles behind all three seasons

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Buick offers to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the switch to electric cars

Photo: Buick

Buick is offering to buy out dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In an interview with WSJ, Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred said that all 2,000 Buick franchise dealers in the US will be given the opportunity to take a buyout. Taking the buyout means the dealer will no longer be affiliated with the Buick brand and can no longer sell Buick vehicles, although they can still sell other General Motors vehicles.

Buick is in the midst of rebranding as EV-only, with the goal to make the switch to 100 percent electric sales by the end of the decade. That will require dealers to spend a lot of money on upgrades, like chargers and EV-specific repair equipment....

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GoPro ‘Mini’ leaks in a nod to the Session cameras of yesterday

The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is a shrunken-down version of the rumored Hero 11 Black. | Image: WinFuture

GoPro’s rumored Hero 11 Black may not be the only camera the company releases this year. Leaked images shared by WinFuture indicate that GoPro’s preparing a smaller surprise that seems like a modern iteration of the now-discontinued Session action cams.

The device, supposedly called the Hero 11 Black Mini, tracks with GoPro’s goals of expanding its camera lineup. It features a large camera sensor on the front alongside a single button for Bluetooth connectivity as well as folding “fingers” on the bottom for mounting. As its name implies, the Mini looks like a shrunken-down version of the upcoming Hero 11 Black, only it doesn’t come with any displays on the front or back of the device.

Image: WinFuture

GoPro’s line...

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Amazon’s next healthcare venture may be in Japan

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon is considering partnering with pharmacies in Japan to deliver medications starting in 2023, according to a report from Nikkei.

The plan is for Amazon to build a platform where patients can get information about the drugs they’ve been prescribed and also sign up to get those drugs delivered, Nikkei reported, based on interviews with unnamed sources involved with the project. Amazon would not operate pharmacies itself — just provide the online system.

Amazon Japan declined to comment to Nikkei.

People in Japan will be able to order prescriptions online after online doctor visits for the first time next year. Major pharmacies and other Japanese companies are also working on similar programs that would give patients digital access to...

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How to customize your Android 13 Pixel’s color palette

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

One of the new features introduced in Android 12 was the ability — if you had a Pixel phone — to automatically match your phone’s color palette to that of your wallpaper, including what Google calls Themed icons — icons that, instead of using their own colors, take on the color palette you’ve chosen as a theme.

Back then, you could only theme icons that were offered by Google apps. So, for example, when I tried it out on a Pixel 3 using Android 12 beta, it changed some, but not all, of the icons on my home page into black designs against a hued background. (Quite honestly, I thought the normal multicolored icons looked much better.) Third-party icons, like the one for Slack, remained as they were.

In Android 13, the ability to have your...

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Leaked Insta360 X3 camera has a larger touchscreen and new pre-record feature

Image: Insta360 / WinFuture

Insta360 is currently teasing the announcement of its “next camera” on September 8th, but WinFuture seems to have the details early. The German-language site has images and specs for the company’s new X3 360-degree action camera, which drops the “One” name from its branding and sports a larger display than its predecessor, the Insta360 One X2.

WinFuture suggests that the Insta360 X3 will be rocking the same 5.7k resolution found on both previous generations of the camera, though updated image sensors should achieve 4K resolution in single-lens mode, up from the 1440p resolution featured on the One X2. Timelapse videos can be made in 8K and still photos can be taken at resolutions up to 72 megapixels.

The circular touchscreen display has...

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Sony’s PlayStation hardware chief to retire next month

Sony’s PlayStation hardware chief retires on October 1st. | Image: Famitsu

Sony’s longtime PlayStation hardware chief is retiring on October 1st. 60-year-old Masayasu Ito, who led the engineering for both the PS4 and PS5, is retiring according to Bloomberg and will be replaced by current director Lin Tao. Sony announced the changes in a brief press release today.

Ito originally joined Sony in 1986 before moving to the company’s PlayStation division in 2008 to lead PlayStation hardware engineering. Ito oversaw the engineering for the PlayStation 4, a hugely successful console that hit lifetime sales of 117.2 million as of March. The PS4 even reached a milestone of selling more games than any other console in history last year.

Ito was also responsible for the creation of the PSVR headset, the PS4 Pro, and Sony’s...

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Leaked Apple Watch Pro case looks big at 49mm

Apple Watch Pro size comparison based on leaked cases. | Image: Sonny Dickson (Twitter)

The Apple Watch Pro leaks continue with Sonny Dickson returning with a size comparison, this time sharing images of purported cases for the 49mm Apple Watch Pro next to cases for the smaller Series 7 and upcoming Series 8 watches. The Apple Watch Pro looks much larger than the 45mm or 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 devices the company currently sells, as well as the rumored Series 8 also expected to be announced on Wednesday.

The size comparison follows the leaked cases and CAD drawings from yesterday, which showed a new button to the left of the flat Apple Watch Pro display, along with a new protrusion to the right housing a mic, button, and Digital Crown that now appears to be better protected from accidental presses — something that could...

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Streaming services need to stop showing me the same ad over and over (and over)

Streaming TV is great! Streaming ads are a mess. | Image: Peacock

For the last few months, Parks & Recreation has been my go-to background show. It’s what I watch while I’m doing the laundry, trying to catch up on email, or playing a video game I’d rather not listen to. The show’s seven seasons are all on Peacock, which is handy, because so is The Office — my other background show. All of this is to say, I watch a lot of Peacock.

At one point today, while half-watching another Parks & Rec episode, an ad came on that I suddenly realized I knew. And I didn’t just know it, I knew every single word of it. The jingle, especially, which ends in a sing-songy “CroppMetcalfe is the one with five stars!” That jingle has been stuck in my head for weeks, and it may never go away.

I don’t blame CroppMetcalfe,...

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Jaws is a box office hit again, 47 years after it first hit theaters

Jaws is old, but it still rules | Photo: Universal Pictures

This Saturday was dubbed “National Cinema Day,” in which theaters around the US cut their ticket prices to $3 in an effort to keep bringing people back to the movie theater. And it worked! More than 8.1 million people went to the movies on Saturday, Variety found, compared to 1 million the day before and 1.7 million the day after. National Cinema Day brought the biggest crowds to theaters of any day in 2022, which leads to one inevitable conclusion: people will go to movies when movies only cost three bucks. Who knew!

One thing not needed to get the butts back in the seats? New movies. August has been a month-long movie doldrums, the result of so many pandemic shutdowns and general supply chain issues. Tom Cruise always has the answer,...

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