Google canceled its next Pixelbook and shut down the team building it

The Pixelbook Go will be the last of Google’s laptops, it seems. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Google has canceled the next version of its Pixelbook laptop and dissolved the team responsible for building it. The device was far along in development and expected to debut next year, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the project was cut as part of recent cost-cutting measures inside of Google. Members of the team have been transferred elsewhere inside the company_._

As recently as a few months ago, Google was planning to keep the Pixelbook going. Ahead of its annual I/O developer conference, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh told The Verge that “we are going to do Pixelbooks in the future.” But he also acknowledged that the Chromebook market has changed since 2017 when the original (and best) Pixelbook launched....

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New attack can unlock and start a Tesla Model Y in seconds, say researchers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tesla prides itself on its cybersecurity protections, particularly the elaborate challenge system that protects its cars from conventional methods for attacking the remote unlock system. But now, one researcher has discovered a sophisticated relay attack that would allow someone with physical access to a Tesla Model Y to unlock and steal it in a matter of seconds.

The vulnerability — discovered by Josep Pi Rodriguez, principal security consultant for IOActive — involves what’s called an NFC relay attack and requires two thieves working in tandem. One thief needs to be near the car and the other near the car owner, who has an NFC keycard or mobile phone with a Tesla virtual key in their pocket or purse.

Near-field communication keycards...

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The head of Halo is leaving Xbox after 15 years in charge

Bonnie Ross has been part of 343 Industries since it was established. | Image: 343 Industries

Bonnie Ross, the corporate vice president of Halo developer 343 Industries, will be leaving the studio, Ross announced on Monday.

“While I had hoped to stay with Halo until we released the Winter Update, I am letting you know I will be leaving 343 and attending to a family medical issue,” she said in a tweet. “I am incredibly proud of the work everyone at 343 Industries has done with Halo Infinite, the Master Chief Collection, the Halo television series and so much more.”

pic.twitter.com/dy2HAbyPaV

— Bonnie Ross (@PlutonForEver) September 12, 2022

Ross is departing amid widespread unhappiness and apathy over the state of Halo Infinite. While the game’s campaign and multiplayer launched to generally favorable reviews last year, 343...

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Glass Onion solidifies Knives Out as the next great mystery franchise

Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery_._ | Image: Netflix

An early spoiler-free review of the sequel

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OnePlus 11 Pro leaks show an alert slider and a massive camera redesign

Leaked renders of the OnePlus 11 Pro show a rounded camera and the return of the alert slider | Image: OnLeaks / Smartpix / OnePlus

Leaked renders of the anticipated OnePlus 11 Pro have been shared online by Smartprix (in collaboration with OnLeaks), showing a new circular camera housing and the return of the iconic alert slider. These renders appear to be based on an early prototype of the OnePlus 11 Pro, so the design might not reflect the final product, but it does give us some idea of what to expect when the phone releases sometime in 2023.

A feature that was removed in the recently released OnePlus 10T is a Hasselblad-endorsed camera. If these renders are to be believed, the OnePlus 11 Pro camera will once again bear the Hasselblad name, though there is a chance that this could be the last OnePlus flagship handset to collaborate with the Swedish camera...

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There’s a new map of climate disasters in America

Burned structures after the Mosquito Fire blanketed the area in flames in Volcanoville, California, on September 11th, 2022 | Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Biden administration launched a new website last week that maps the mess climate change is making across the US. From broiling heat to destructive floods, the new Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) website paints a picture in data of the disasters coming to Americans’ doorsteps. It’s also supposed to help local policymakers and their constituencies see how they might need to adapt in the coming decades.

The portal dives into five key threats exacerbated by climate change: extreme heat, drought, wildfire, inland flooding, and coastal inundation. Once you scroll past the website’s national map, you’ll find an interactive tool that zooms in on local impacts. Plug in a particular address, and you can pull up data...

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iOS 16 now available with new lock screen, editable iMessages, and more

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple is releasing its latest iOS 16 operating system for compatible iPhones today. The free update includes a new lock screen with widgets, unsend and edit for iMessage, new keyboard haptics, a new Home app, and much more. iPadOS won’t be updated to version 16 today, though, as that will ship later as an iPadOS 16.1 release.

The lock screen is where most of the obvious improvements in iOS 16 can be seen. You can now add widgets to the lock screen, and they can act like a way of presenting notifications. On iPhone 14 Pro models, these widgets will even appear when the device is off thanks to a new always-on display.

If you’re a daily iMessage user, then there are a variety of improvements with iOS 16 to keep you happy. You can now edit...

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Google now owns the firm that found SolarWinds

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google has completed its acquisition of Mandiant, bringing a major name in cybersecurity under the tech giant’s ever-growing umbrella.

The $5.4 billion acquisition, announced in March, was completed on Monday, according to a Google press release. Per details in the release, Mandiant will keep its own brand while operating under the Google Cloud branch of its new parent company. Google Cloud is the cloud computing platform offered by Google and provides cloud computing and data storage infrastructure for other companies to build products on top of.

Mandiant is best known for uncovering the SolarWinds hack, a massive Russia-linked breach that compromised US government agencies including the departments of Homeland Security, State, Defense,...

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For the next three hours, you can get a Galaxy Watch 4 for just $129

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is currently discounted to its lowest price ever | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

The internet is still buzzing about the reveal of the new Apple Watch Pro and the recently released Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. But if you’re looking to get a new wearable without spending a mint, you can currently get the last-generation 40mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 for just $129 during the Discover Samsung flash sale for the next three hours. This promotion lasts from 12PM to 3PM ET and knocks 36 percent off the final price of any configuration of the 40mm or 44mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

While this model, unfortunately, lacks the physical rotating bezel, the Watch 4 still sports a touch interface that’s snappy and responsive, in addition to expanded third-party app support and an extensive suite of health tracking features. The Watch 4 is...

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How to use split view on a MacBook

Let’s split this baby up. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

If you want to work with two apps, side by side, at the same time on a Mac computer, Split View is your friend. Sure, you could just resize the two apps manually yourself. But using Split View will do that automatically for you and save you some time.

Another benefit of Split View is that it temporarily makes all of your other windows go away. That means you won’t accidentally click off your windows and have other things popping up to cover them up. If you need to access something else, you can simply exit Split View (which we’ll also show you how to do below).

Here’s how to use Split View on a MacBook.

How to use Split View on a MacBook

To use Split View, you will need to be using two apps that support Split View on macOS. A lot of...

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It’s cuffing season in new trailer for Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic Netflix television event

Jessica Williams as Meadow and Scott Mescudi as Jabari. | Image: Netflix

Though the title and visual language of Netflix’s Entergalacticfrom Kenya Barris kind of makes it sound and look like a certain spider-themed sci-fi epic, the animated television event is actually a story of romance inspired by co-creator Kid Cudi’s upcoming studio album by the same name.

Entergalactic tells the tale of how up-and-coming artist Jabari (Scott Mescudi) finds himself falling head over heels in love with his new neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams) shortly after moving into his new digs with plans to try life out as a bachelor. Being newly out of a relationship with his ex-girlfriend Carmen (Laura Harrier), the prospect of jumping right into a new situationship gives Jabari some amount of pause. But the trailer makes it...

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Blue Origin’s uncrewed capsule safely escapes after midflight anomaly

Blue Origin’s uncrewed NS-23 launch experiences an anomaly | Image: Blue Origin (YouTube)

Blue Origin’s NS-23 uncrewed flight ended abruptly on Saturday morning after the spaceflight company aborted the mission due to an issue with the New Shepard rocket’s booster. The failure happened just as the rocket reached max Q, or the moment when it reaches maximum dynamic pressure.

Blue Origin confirmed that the rocket suffered a booster failure on Twitter, but notes the “escape system performed as designed.”

Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed. pic.twitter.com/xFDsUMONTh

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 12, 2022

The rocket took off at around 10:26AM ET from Blue Origin’s West Texas site, with the capsule carrying 36 payloads containing scientific research equipment. Shortly into...

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No buyouts for Chevy dealers who don’t want to sell electric vehicles

Chevrolet dealers are on the front lines in the multi-billion-dollar push to court mainstream car buyers. | Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge

Chevrolet won’t follow its sister brands Cadillac and Buick in offering buyouts to dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, Scott Bell, global vice president, told The Verge.

In fact, the dealers who do elect to take buyouts from Cadillac and Buick could end up exclusively selling Chevy vehicles, which Bell argues is good for his brand.

“The minute they pull back and say, ‘You know what, I’m not ready to go all in for those brands,’ they’re now 100 percent a Chevy dealer, which is a good thing for Chevrolet,” Bell said at a pop-up event in Manhattan celebrating the unveiling of the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV.

“they’re now 100 percent a Chevy dealer, which is a good thing for Chevrolet”

Last...

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iOS 16 review: unlocking the lock screen

The lock screen is the centerpiece of what iOS 16 brings to your iPhone. | Photo by David Pierce / The Verge

Apple’s trying to turn your phone into more than just a bunch of apps

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Apple’s refurbished AirPods Max are $180 off the original cost

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

If you’ve struggled to justify buying Apple’s AirPods Max at their usual $420-plus price (at Apple, they’re still $549), head over to Woot and check out this deal on refurbished models that cost just $369.99. You can choose between space gray, sky blue, and green, each of which Woot says are “Apple Certified Reconditioned” and have “no visible scratches or blemishes and appear practically brand new!” Though, as is usually the case, the warranty for these refurbished headphones isn’t as good as buying new ones. You’ll get 90 days instead of a full year.

While still pricier in refurbished condition than some of our other top picks for noise-canceling headphones new-in-box, there are some good reasons why you may want to opt for the AirPods...

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Carrot 5.8 is introducing fresh and funny weather features for iOS 16

Carrot 5.8 will introduce widgets to your lock screen, saving you from opening your phone to check the weather. | Image: Carrot

Carrot Weather — an app known for its humorous, antagonistic approach to weather updates — is introducing some new features that take advantage of Apple’s iOS 16 release for iPhones today, including lock screen widgets and Apple Weather data integration. There’s also a new multi-column redesign for the iPad.

Some of the features listed will only be available to members of the Premium Club, which costs $4.99 per month or $19.99 per year. The Carrot App is otherwise free to download for iOS and Android devices.

Image: Carrot

Lock screen widgets will bring helpful weather updates as well as Carrot’s usual injection of humor.

Weather updates on Carrot version 5.8 will now be available as customizable lock screen...

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Nintendo announces Direct showcase for tomorrow morning

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Nintendo’s next Direct showcase will take place tomorrow, September 13th. The Nintendo Direct will be broadcast at 7AM PT / 10AM ET tomorrow morning and will include “roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on Nintendo Switch games launching this winter.”

Forty minutes is plenty of time to detail this year’s Switch releases, but it also leaves room for more details on the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The still-unnamed sequel was originally set for a 2022 release date, but it got delayed to spring 2023 earlier this year. Most of the details about the game are still shrouded in mystery, and tomorrow might be a good time for Nintendo to at least provide us with a name for Link’s next big adventure.

Tune in...

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iPhone 14 battery replacements cost $30 more than previous generations

The iPhone 14 Plus. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

A battery replacement on the iPhone 14 will cost you $30 more than previous models (via 9to5Mac). The cost estimator on Apple’s iPhone battery service page says replacing the battery on any iPhone 14 model runs $99, a fairly steep increase from the $69 price for past generations (except the iPhone SE, which has battery replacement priced at $49 across the board).

Apple still hasn’t revealed the battery capacity in the iPhone 14, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max models but vaguely touts that it comes with the company’s “longest battery life ever.” However, we do get a glimpse of what to expect in a filing on the hazardous materials database, Chemtrec, spotted by 9to5Mac.

Image: Emma Roth / The Verge

Battery replacement on...

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Lutron’s new smart light switches go back to basics

Lutron’s new Caséta Diva smart dimmer and smart switch sport a more traditional look. | Image: Lutron

Lutron Caséta has added two new smart switches to its lineup. The switches are modeled on its existing non-smart “Diva” paddle switch style, giving its distinctive smart switch line a more traditional look. Lutron Caséta is probably one of the most reliable DIY smart lighting systems available today; it uses a proprietary protocol powered by Lutron’s smart hub rather than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The new $69.95 Diva smart dimmer is a wired paddle switch with a toggle slider for dimming, and the $59.95 Claro smart switch is a standard wired on-off switch. Both products look like traditional paddle switches, and other than a small LED light, there’s nothing to single them out as “smart.” As with the existing Caseta smart dimmer, the new Diva...

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There’s no driving test for self-driving cars in the US — but there should be

Tesla doesn’t need to prove that its Full Self-Driving system is safer than human driving before releasing it to the public. But what if it did? | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Would a European-style regulatory system improve safety?

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Roku announces upgraded Roku Express, Wireless Bass subwoofer, and more

The Roku OS 11.5 update is coming soon. | Image: Roku

Roku is mostly leaving its hardware lineup untouched for the fall — with a couple exceptions. Today, the company is introducing an enhanced Roku Express that now includes dual-band Wi-Fi for more robust, dependable streaming performance. Still priced at $29.99, the device is available for preorder now and will be in stores on October 16th.

The Express is Roku’s introductory streaming device and accordingly sticks to 1080p quality; you need to move up to the Roku Express 4K Plus — which already includes dual-band connectivity — if you want to watch 4K / Ultra HD content. The basic Express comes with Roku’s simplest remote, so you’ll need to use the company’s mobile app if you want to use the private listening feature with connected...

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Zoom’s Slack competitor is getting a new name and features

Now, it’s called Zoom Team Chat. Big difference. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Many of us have been on a lot of Zoom calls during the pandemic, but you might not know that Zoom also has its very own Slack- and Microsoft Teams-esque product called Zoom Chat. On Monday, Zoom announced a small change to the name of the product — it’s now called Zoom Team Chat — alongside a handful of other handy updates coming to the collaboration software.

Let’s start with the name change. Zoom is adding “Team” because customers were getting confused about the difference between the chat you can use in Zoom meetings with the separate communication suite. Renaming the product to Zoom Team Chat “helps make the distinction that it is a full collaborative hub product,” Sharvari Nerurkar, Zoom Team Chat’s head of product, said in an...

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Intel says one of its 13th Gen CPUs will hit 6GHz out of the box

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

At least one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-generation CPUs will be able to run at 6GHz at stock, Tom’s Hardware reports. The detail was shared in a slide onstage at Intel’s Technology Tour 2022, which also says it’ll be capable of hitting 8GHz when overclocked. Other improvements promised for this new generation, which is named Raptor Lake, include a 15 percent improvement in single-threaded performance, and a 41 percent improvement in multi-threaded performance.

Intel’s 6GHz claim is a shot across the bow at competitor AMD, which recently said that its upcoming flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X will be capable of boosting up to 5.7GHz. Although raw clock speeds aren’t the be all and end all when it comes to performance, breaking the 6GHz...

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‘Quest Pro’ pictures may show a sample of Meta’s next VR headset

Image: Ramiro Cardenas via Facebook

Images of what appears to be the packaging for a “Meta Quest Pro” virtual reality (VR) headset surfaced online, posted by Facebook user Ramiro Cardenas, who claims it was left in a hotel room (Thanks, Peter! via Reddit). The device shown resembles the Project Cambria headset Meta has been publicly teasing since late last year and looks like the one spotted in leaked setup videos.

The images surfaced exactly one month ahead of Meta’s Connect event on October 11th, which lines up with the timeline CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed for when the company will reveal its next VR headset. We expect to find out all about Project Cambria / the “Quest Pro” and its other plans for the metaverse, AR, and VR.

Cardenas originally shared the images in the...

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Now you can stream Elden Ring’s soundtrack on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube

Image: From Software

Elden Ring developer FromSoftware is making the game’s music soundtrack available to stream online in case you want to relive Malenia’s boss fight more than you’ve already replayed it. As announced in a Playstation blog post, you can listen to the 67-track album on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and more (you can view the whole list of services here).

I, for one, did not even realize that there were 67 different songs in Elden Ring but maybe that was because I’ve been too busy yelling to notice the difference. The post also features an interview with FromSoftware lead sound design and composer Tsukasa Saito, who explains what actually went into making some of the game’s music, which is arguably one of the more...

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DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket website and app crash on opening weekend

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Football fans are struggling to watch the first NFL Sunday Ticket game of the season due to issues with DirecTV’s website and app. While some users (including myself) report seeing an error page when trying to access the Sunday Ticket website, others say they can’t even sign in.

But that’s not all — users are reporting a range of other issues, too, with some getting locked out of the stream and receiving an error message that says they must be located in an NFL stadium in order to watch. To make matters even worse, those who subscribe to the NFL Plus subscription (which is separate from Sunday Ticket) say the app isn’t loading game scores.

I am not near an NFL stadium but Directv thinks I am so the Sunday Ticket app I paid for doesn’t...

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Ikea’s Swedish House Mafia record player is actually going on sale next month

Ikea’s Obegränsad record player. | Image: Ikea

Ikea’s record player made in collaboration with music supergroup Swedish House Mafia is set to go on sale in October. The all-black device sports an unsurprisingly minimalistic look and will cost you $159.99 once it hits Ikea’s maze-like stores.

The record player is part of Ikea’s overarching Obegränsad (the Swedish word for “unlimited”) collection, which includes an equally-as-modern armchair, desk, LED work lamp, record stand, laptop stand, and shelving units, among other items. Ikea first announced the record player in June, marking the furniture maker’s second attempt at creating and selling a record player. The record player it was working on in 2018 never went on sale, but it looks like we have a much better shot of actually...

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Matternet’s delivery drone design has been approved by the FAA

Matternet’s Model M2 drone delivering for the Swiss Post. | Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

Matternet has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its Model M2 drone delivery drone design. In a press release, Matternet explains that the Model M2 is the first non-military unmanned aircraft to achieve Type Certification by the FAA, which determines that an aircraft’s design meets regulatory standards.

The California-based Matternet has been testing its Model M2 drone over the past four years in the US as part of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) program. Matternet says getting the green light from the FAA could help streamline the process of “implementing new networks and getting approvals.”

Image: Matternet

Matternet’s Model M2 delivery drone.

Matternet partnered with...

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Comcast says 2-gig speeds are rolling out now to ‘millions’

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge

Comcast plans on bringing multi-gig internet speeds to 34 cities across the US by the end of this year, and will later expand its reach to more than 50 million households by the end of 2025. According to a press release, the company has already started rolling out 2-gig speeds over its broadband network in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; and Philadelphia, PA.

Customers in these cities will also get to take advantage of upload speeds that Comcast says are five to 10 times faster than what it currently offers. The upload speeds appear to max out at 200Mbps, even with the new Gigabit x2 plan, but Comcast intends to change that. It’s launching multi-gig symmetrical speeds next year, which will enable multi-gig...

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All the best from the Ubisoft Forward event

Image: Ubisoft

Ubisoft shared a ton of information on the projects, known and never-before-seen, during its Ubisoft Forward event. Here are the highlights.

Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

Ubisoft showed off new gameplay footage of the latest installment in the Mario + Rabbids franchise. We got a deeper look at the world of Tera Flora where Mario, Peach, Luigi, and their weird-ass Rabbid counterparts work together to bring down a corrupted wiggler train. The gameplay trailer emphasizes synergy and teamwork, in which combining each character’s unique powers unleash devastating attacks. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches on the Nintendo Switch on October 20th.

Skull and Bones

The release of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft’s open-world pirate adventure...

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