Ethereum just completed The Merge — here’s how much energy it’s saving

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Merge, which took place early Thursday morning ET, will cut Ethereum’s energy consumption by an even bigger margin than previously expected, a new analysis finds. It’s also expected to slash the cryptocurrency network’s greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.

Ethereum’s electricity use is expected to drop by a whopping 99.988 percent post-Merge, according to the analysis published today by research company Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI). The network was previously using about 23 million megawatt-hours per year, CCRI estimates. Moving forward, it’s expected to usejust over 2,600 megawatt-hours per year. To help visualize just how massive this is, the report compares this reduction to the Eiffel Tower shrinking to the size of a...

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TikTok Now is the latest BeReal knockoff

TikTok Now sends a daily notification, just like BeReal. | Image: TikTok

TikTok is the latest app to add a dual camera feature, hoping to tap in to the surging popularity of BeReal.

In a blog post today, TikTok announced a new feature called Now, which will send users daily notifications to capture a picture or video using their front and back cameras.

“We’re expanding our suite of creation tools as we continue to foster authentic and spontaneous connections on TikTok,” the company says in the post. In other words: y’all really seem to like accidentally posting company secrets while you work from home on that other app. What if you did it on TikTok, too?

In images shared by TikTok, the new feature has its own dedicated tab right next to the home button at the bottom of the app. Just like BeReal, users have...

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Here’s Krafton’s virtual human Ana in action

Ana in her first music video. | Image: Krafton

Earlier this year, Krafton — the company best known for the battle royale shooter PUBG — unveiled what it described as a “hyper-realistic” virtual human. Alongside those first images and details were some big plans to turn Ana, as she’s known, into a virtual star. Now we can see what that looks like with a brand-new music video.

The video is for a catchy track called “Shine Bright,” and it mixes some fantastical imagery — like Ana falling from the sky and wielding what looks like a magic ring — with the visuals you’d expect from a pop song. Perhaps most interesting are the smaller details, like Ana sneezing, meant to make this virtual creation seem more human. Krafton claims that Ana’s singing, meanwhile, is “completely artificial...

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Is TikTok’s time running out?

Nick Barclay / The Verge

Ever since TikTok became the most-downloaded consumer app in the world, it’s been an open question when the ByteDance-owned service would face a level of scrutiny commensurate with its status. As of today, it seems clear that moment is now.

At a hearing in front of the US Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas faced stern questioning from lawmakers. They had pointed questions about the company’s connection to its parent, its relationship with the Chinese government, and the potential for Americans’ data to be misused. And while on one level it was simply the latest chance for our Senate to grandstand about the tech industry while doing nothing to regulate it, the hearing also showcased...

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Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II review: noise cancellation domination

Bose makes a statement with its new $299 buds

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Apple Watch Series 8 review: if it ain’t broke

... don’t upgrade

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Anyone can use this AI art generator — that’s the risk

A random selection of images created using AI text to image generator Stable Diffusion | Image: The Verge via Lexica

Stable Diffusion is a text-to-image AI that’s much more accessible its predecessors

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Adobe to acquire Figma in a deal worth $20 billion

Adobe is buying Figma. | Image: Figma

Adobe has announced that it’s acquiring Figma, a popular design platform, for around $20 billion in cash and stock. After rumors surfaced early on Thursday about a potential acquisition, Adobe made it official in a press release shortly afterward. It’s big news in the design and development world, particularly as Figma has been competing heavily with Adobe’s XD products in recent years.

“Together, Adobe and Figma will reimagine the future of creativity and productivity, accelerate creativity on the web, advance product design and inspire global communities of creators, designers and developers,” claims Adobe. “The combined company will have a massive, fast-growing market opportunity and capabilities to drive significant value for...

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Is this a teaser for Hideo Kojima’s next game?

“Who Am I?” | Image: KojimaProductions.com

Kojima Productions, the development studio led by Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding director Hideo Kojima, has posted a cryptic teaser on its website that has fans speculating about what the company could be about to announce. The teaser, which data from the Wayback Machine suggests was posted this week, shows a dimly lit silhouette of a woman’s head with the words “who am I?” superimposed over it.

Of course, Twitter has been quick to come up with some theories about who this could be. The most convincing is that it could be the actor Elle Fanning, perhaps best known for her role as Alice Dainard in Super 8. But that’s just the first level of the fan theorizing. Taking things a step further is the fact that Fanning also appeared in a...

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The Meta Oversight Board says Facebook’s automated image takedowns are broken

The Facebook logo. | Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta’s Oversight Board says the company should be more careful with automated moderation tools, criticizing it for removing a cartoon depicting police violence in Colombia. The decision arrived as the board took on a set of new cases, including a question about a video of sexual assault in India.

The Oversight Board, a semi-independent body funded by Meta, considered a political cartoon depicting Colombian police officers beating a man with batons. The cartoon was at some point added to Meta’s Media Matching Service database, which meant Meta’s system flagged it automatically for takedown when users posted it. But when users saw their posts removed, they began appealing the decision — and winning. The Oversight Board says 215 people...

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Walmart now lets you virtually model clothing on your own body

Walmarts latest Be Your Own Model feature lets you upload your own images to use in place of default clothing models. | Image: Walmart

Walmart shoppers will now be able to virtually try on clothes from the comfort of their own homes using AR technology in the retailer’s app.

The new Be Your Own Model experience requires customers to upload a full-body photo of themselves to create a realistic simulation of what an item of clothing would look like on their own bodies. The feature is capable of recognizing where the fabric should drape and shadows should fall, made possible by the company’s acquisition of the Zeekit virtual try-on platform last year.

“A single shirt can come in six different colors, seven different sizes and two sleeve lengths. Our technology captures all the variations and shows how they look uniquely on each individual,” says Walmart in a press...

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Overwatch 2 developers explain the new battle pass

Genji wearing Overwatch 2’s first mythic skin | Blizzard

Heroes are now gated behind battle pass progression. Here’s why that might not suck.

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Deathloop arrives on Xbox Game Pass on September 20th

After a year of console exclusivity on the PS5, Deathloop will release on the Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC Game Pass, on September 20th. The first-person shooter developed by Arkane Lyon was nominated for several game of the year awards after its release in September last year thanks to its captivating mix of action and stealth gameplay, retro sci-fi art style, and interesting time looping structure. Deathloop also released on PC in addition to PS5 last September. There’s no mention of a forthcoming release on last-gen Xbox One consoles.

Deathloop’s console exclusivity on PS5 was a slightly weird situation given the game was published by Bethesda, a company Microsoft acquired last year. After the acquisition was...

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Ethereum will use less energy now that it’s proof-of-stake

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has switched to proof-of-stake, cutting its energy demands. The transition, which has been in the works since 2016, won’t change much for the average Ethereum user, but it sidelines miners.

The switchover began on September 6th, when the Bellatrix upgrade was activated. It is now complete after the mining of the Terminal Total Difficulty block, which triggered the Paris upgrade. The technical part is done; now, we get to see what happens.

Before the Merge, Ethereum ran on proof-of-work, where computers all around the world competed to solve puzzles so they could add a new block to the chain. That was pretty energy-inefficient because all these miners were competing to solve the puzzle at the...

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EA’s CEO is following the money to more games with player-created content

The new Skate is expected to offer lots of ways to be creative. | Image: EA

EA sees a big opportunity in games that let players create their own content, CEO Andrew Wilson said at a Goldman Sachs conference on Tuesday, as reported by Axios. Games like Minecraft and Roblox with extensive player creation tools have become huge hits with enduring popularity, and it sounds like EA wants to find more ways to let players create content in its own titles.

He highlighted a few EA franchises he feels have notable creative aspects already, like The Sims (which will soon be free to play), FIFA, and Battlefield, and talked about how the upcoming live service Skate title will offer many opportunities for player creation.

“Just like the real world, where skateboarding leans into fashion and music and automotive and building...

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Tesla is being sued over Autopilot and Elon Musk’s Full Self-Driving predictions

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A lawsuit filed in San Francisco by a Tesla owner claims the automaker and its CEO / Technoking Elon Musk are “deceptively and misleadingly” marketing the Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” advanced driver assistance features that are available as paid software add-ons (via Automotive News).

The filing claims Tesla and Musk “deceived and misled consumers regarding the current abilities of its ADAS [advanced driver-assistance system] technology and by representing that it was perpetually on the cusp of perfecting that technology and finally fulfilling its promise of producing a fully self-driving car,” and that “contrary to Tesla’s repeated promises that it would have a fully self-driving car within months or a year, Tesla has never been...

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Android and iOS take big steps toward launching Matter smart home compatibility

Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard both Apple and Google helped create. | Image: CSA

It’s getting closer. With the drop of the iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 developer betas today, we have confirmation that “Matter Accessories” are on their way to Apple iPhones and iPads. Plus, Google’s Google Home Developer Console, which helps developers add Matter devices to its smart home platform, also went live today.

Matter is a new smart home connectivity standard that promises to unify all your connected devices, making it easier for your smart thermostat to talk to your connected door lock and for you to talk to either one using any voice assistant or smart home app you choose. At WWDC this year, Apple announced that iOS 16 would support Matter, and now we are seeing the first implementations.

A screenshot of the...

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Google is finally rolling out Play Store reviews tailored to your device

Opening the door even further for tablets. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google has started rolling out a feature that could make judging apps in the Play Store a lot easier — it’ll only show reviews based on the type of device you’re using, be it a phone, tablet / foldable, Chromebook, Android Auto, or wearable (via Android Police). The change, which was announced in August 2021 as coming in “early 2022,” arrives as Google’s getting ready to launch a tablet and wearable of its own.

In the reviews section of the Play Store, there’s now a notice to let you know that ratings are “verified,” and that you’re being shown feedback from people using the same type of device as you. I had a colleague look at the reviews for the YouTube app on his foldable, and he was shown a different set of reviews than I was while...

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Here come high-powered USB-C chargers that can fully power a 16-inch MacBook Pro

The HyperJuice 140W is one of the first USB PD 3.1 chargers to become available. | Image: Hyper

When Apple released the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros last year, the 16-inch models came with a new kind of USB-C charger — one that can deliver up to 140W of power to the MagSafe 3 port. That’s because Apple’s biggest MacBook Pro charger supports the latest USB Power Delivery specification: USB PD 3.1, which goes beyond the previous 100W limitation for a single USB-C port.

The USB Promoter Group published the latest specification of Power Delivery in May of last year, but accessory manufacturers are only now delivering products that support it. And it’s about time because 16-inch MacBook Pro users who swear by fast charging have been stuck with the included non-travel-friendly brick that only has one USB-C port. Now you can get ones...

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The EV charging situation in the US is about to suck a little less

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

We’re about to see a lot more electric vehicle chargers in the US.

The Biden administration just announced the approval of $900 million in funding to 35 states to install EV chargers across approximately 53,000 miles of highway across the country — the first tranche from a $5 billion pot of money that was included as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year.

That means money is about to start flowing to the states to enact their plans to install thousands of new EV chargers, a crucial link in the Biden administration’s goal of getting more people to switch to plug-in vehicles. The president has said he wants to build 500,000 chargers across the US by 2030 in the hopes that an improved charging infrastructure will make EVs a...

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How to use iPhone’s Safety Check and Emergency SOS features

Samar Haddad / The Verge

While there has — rightly — been a great deal written and broadcast about how to deal with attacks and privacy violations online and via social media, there is now increasing attention being paid to helping people stay safe in their homes and out in the world. Two features offered via Apple’s iPhones — one just introduced in iOS 16 — can help people who may need to separate themselves from dangerous people or situations: Safety Check and Emergency SOS.

Safety Check

One of the most significant new features in iOS 16 is Safety Check, which is specifically meant for people who find themselves in a difficult or abusive situation at home.

It is very common for friends and partners to share various apps and features such as photos, calendars,...

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Intel’s DLSS rival, XeSS, seems to be a succeSS

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Digital Foundry has released an in-depth look at the upscaling tech that’ll be included with Intel’s upcoming Arc GPUs and compared its performance to Nvidia’s offering, Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS). Based on the tests they’ve run so far, Intel’s Xe Super Sampling, or XeSS for short, seems to do a reasonable job of holding its own against more mature technologies — though it’s worth noting that Digital Foundry only ran tests with Intel’s highest-end card, the Arc A770, and mostly in a single game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The idea behind XeSS and other technologies like it is to run your game at a lower resolution, then use a bunch of machine learning algorithms to upscale it in a way that looks way better than more basic...

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iOS 16.1 beta adds Apple’s ugly new battery percentage indicator to the iPhone Mini

This isn’t an iPhone Mini, but it’s what the indicator looks like. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Apple released the first iOS 16.1 beta to developers on Wednesday, and it lets iPhone users with an iPhone 13 or 12 Mini, an iPhone 11, or iPhone XR turn on the new battery percentage indicator added in iOS 16, according to MacRumors.

Before iOS 16, iPhones with notches couldn’t see their battery percentage in the status bar, but Apple added the feature for some notched phones with its latest major software update. Many of us here at The Verge aren’t a fan of the new design; the indicator puts a number inside a battery icon, which is a smart way to save some space, but there’s no other visual indicator of how full that battery is. That means, for example, that if your battery is at 33 percent, the battery icon will still appear “full.”...

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The best laptop deals you can get right now

The MacBook Air equipped with Apple’s M1 processor is our favorite affordable laptop and is often on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. While it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers), that’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now.

In addition to the latest deals, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top cheap laptops as well.

Photo...

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Microsoft Teams now has a remixed ringtone from TikTok

Microsoft loves TikTok. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft liked a TikTok video so much it has put a remixed version of the Teams ringtone into the Microsoft Teams app. Calum Newton, who’s better known as CandyMoore.mp3 on TikTok, created the Teams ringtone remix earlier this year by mixing some funky vocals by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and an electronic dance music take on the sound you hear when your boss wants to talk to you.

While Microsoft has dropped the Bill Gates vocals for the version on Microsoft Teams, the end result is nearly identical to the TikTok that earned Microsoft’s approval earlier this year — with Microsoft’s official TikTok account commenting “we like it Picasso” on the video.

@candymoore.mp3

@microsoft time for a new teams ringtone I reckon. Vid via...

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Lockly Vision Elite review: two become one

A great smart door lock but just an okay video doorbell

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Canva’s new Visual Worksuite has its sights set on Google and Microsoft

The new Canva Visual Worksuite could turn the graphic design tool into a full-fledged competitor for Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. | Image: Canva

Canva is moving beyond its roots as an online graphic design tool, announcing a new suite of workplace products that expand into other areas of visual communication. The Canva Visual Worksuite will provide design-focused alternatives to products offered by Microsoft and Google, such as Canva Docs and Canva Whiteboards, as well as introduce new features to existing tools within the Canva product family.

First up is Canva Docs, a collaborative online document creator and editing tool, enabling you to use all of Canva’s 100 million-plus library of design assets while creating text documents. You can create and embed designs like whiteboards, banners, and brainstorms directly within the Doc as an alternative to exporting your created designs...

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California governor signs law requiring social networks to post moderation rules

California Governor Gavin Newsom | Photo by Jerod Harris / Getty Images for Vox Media

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law aimed at making web platforms monitor hate speech, extremism, harassment, and other objectionable behaviors. Newsom signed AB 587 after it passed the state legislature last month, despite concerns that the bill might violate First Amendment speech protections.

AB 587 requires social media companies to post their terms of service online, as well as submit a twice-yearly report to the state attorney general. The report must include details about whether the platform defines and moderates several categories of content, including “hate speech or racism,” “extremism or radicalization,” “disinformation or misinformation,” harassment, and “foreign political interference.” It must also offer...

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WhatsApp made a movie with Giannis Antetokounmpo

Its new short film stars NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo. | Image: Meta

Meta’s WhatsApp just released a trailer for its new short film about the story of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, titled Naija Odyssey. The movie is a short film (12 minutes, according to Variety) focusing on the story of Antetokounmpo’s life.

The film appears to essentially be branded content, given that Antetokounmpo signed an endorsement deal with WhatsApp in February that made him the social media platform’s first brand spokesperson. So while this isn’t exactly the same as Apple jumping into film and TV with things like Coda and Ted Lasso, Naija Odyssey could be a sign that WhatsApp is exploring original content in some shape or form — even if it’s just for future branded opportunities.

Here’s the fuller description of the film,...

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Xbox app on PC now launches faster and has HowLongToBeat integration

The Xbox app on PC now launches 15 percent faster. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is updating its Xbox app on Windows with HowLongToBeat integration and faster launch times. The Xbox team has partnered with HowLongToBeat to provide estimates for long it will take to beat PC Game Pass games. HowLongToBeat is a community-based site that lets people track how long a game will take and see if a game is worth buying or playing.

The HowLongToBeat integration in the Xbox app on Windows includes estimations for the main story of the game alongside estimates for additional quests, 100 percent completion, and a combination of play styles. You’ll be able to submit your own times and even see community reviews, playthrough notes, and breakdowns by playstyles.

Image: Microsoft

HowLongToBeat...

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