Coinbase says it’s monitoring a fix for its web and app outage

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, says it’s monitoring a fix for a partial outage that affected its website and app for around two hours on Tuesday. According to the company’s status page, users experienced difficulties logging in or loading pages — and while the rest of the company’s infrastructure wasn’t affected, the easiest ways to use those services were cut off.

Coinbase announced on Twitter that it was having network connectivity issues at around 12:39PM ET and announced that a fix was being implemented around an hour and a half later. Around 3PM ET, the company announced that the fix had been implemented, and it was monitoring to make sure it was working.

Network latency is improving. We are aware that some...

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How NASA is upgrading the International Space Station’s ancient power system

An ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) is deployed in 2001. The solar arrays are slowly being added to the space station to boost its available power. | Image: NASA

In the next few weeks, astronauts will be heading out of the airlock on the International Space Station (ISS) on a series of three spacewalks, part of a long-term plan to upgrade the space station’s aging power system.

The ISS uses large solar arrays to collect energy from the Sun and convert it into usable electricity for everything from life support and temperature controls to communications with Earth and propulsion systems to allow the station to dodge debris.

The old ISS power system, including eight solar arrays that spread out from the exterior of the station like wings, had been able to meet the power needs of the station to date by generating an average of between 84 and 120 kilowatts of electricity. However, some of the...

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How to track your luggage — or anything else — with AirTags

Apple’s little tracking devices are surprisingly handy for travel. | Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

This summer, we made the tactical error of visiting extended family in Europe. As the trip approached, we noted with growing concern headlines of airport chaos, long security lines, and mountains of lost baggage. Then a friend we had been planning to meet in Amsterdam chose to drive 12 hours from Warsaw rather than risk a two-hour flight. Two days before our flight out of Schiphol — and possibly influenced by the fact that we managed to leave bothour phones in a seatback pocket the year before — a local friend strongly recommended we buy some AirTags for our luggage, just in case.

I may be the last person on Earth to realize you can use trackers to keep track of things, but I have to admit the premise is solid. All the stores nearby...

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The best noise-canceling headphone deals

You can currently buy the AirPods Max for around $479 instead of $549. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

With more people working from home than they used to, owning a good pair of noise-canceling headphones has become more appealing than ever. However, they can be expensive and difficult to shop for due to the range of available models, many of which cater to different lifestyles and priorities. Some are better suited for long-haul flights, for instance, while others are ideal for multitasking and marathon listening sessions.

That’s why we’ve curated this list of the best deals on noise-canceling headphones. Here, you’ll find sales on all kinds of on-ear and over-ear headphones, all of which are designed to eliminate outside noise but come with their own strengths and weaknesses. And if you want to do even more research before making a...

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Quick fixes: how to fix if MagSafe isn’t charging your phone

Samar Haddad / The Verge

Issue

Your MagSafe charger suddenly isn’t, well, charging.

Quick fix

Do a hard reset.

The full story

Wireless charging is great, but it quickly becomes a confusing mess if you plop down your phone for some juice and notice nothing happens after a few minutes. If your iPhone 12, 13, or 14 is suddenly not charging with a proper Apple MagSafe charger or compatible third-party charger but still charges fine with a wired Lightning connection, it’s possible there’s something going on in the MagSafe software handshake within iOS.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If your MagSafe charger suddenly stops working, don’t panic — it may be fixable.

I’ve had this same scenario happen to my iPhone 12 Pro Max, where MagSafe...

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A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.

Root certificate authorities protect against both website forgeries and attacks. Since root certificate authorities also have the power to give others the ability to grant certificates, it raises some concerns if the authority’s linked to surveillance or malware efforts, as it calls the entire...

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John Wick could become a AAA video game

John Wick says adopt and donate to your local ASPCA... or else | Image: Niko Tavernise

Because everyone seems to have forgotten that John Wick Hex exists, Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick franchise, hasn’t ruled out AAA games for the future of everyone’s favorite dog-loving hitman. Over the course of three movies (going on four), the John Wick franchise has grown exceedingly rich and weird. However, spinoffs like The Continental are still a ways off, and with a reported second spinoff helmed by Ana de Armas in the works, Lionsgate is searching for other ways to keep attention on the franchise.

During a recent earnings call, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said that the company had been perusing pitches for a John Wick game, but details are currently spotty. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself here ... We have been...

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We might get a Star Wars film from the director of Deadpool 3

Shawn Levy could be the next of many directors to take on a Star Wars film. | Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

There are a lot of Star Wars films in development, and now, Disney might be adding one more, as Deadline reports that Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy is “in talks” to direct a new movie in the franchise. Deadline doesn’t have details on the plot or a writer, and the film may not happen for a long time given Levy is also on tap to work on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things and Deadpool 3.

There hasn’t been a new Star Wars movie since 2019, when Disney released the divisive Rise of Skywalker. While we don’t know exactly when the next Star Wars film will come out, Disney is exploring a lot of options in addition to Levy’s potential entry:

• Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof is reportedly co-writing a Star Wars movie with Sharmeen...

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Alphabet’s Wing drones will soon be delivering DoorDash orders in Australia

Need a box of bandaids? Get it from a drone. | Image: Google

Wing — a company from Google’s parent organization, Alphabet — is integrating its drone deliveries into another service for the first time, with some DoorDash users getting the ability to order grocery essentials and snacks to be dropped from the sky. The companies are launching a pilot (haha) program where users in certain Australian neighborhoods will be able to have some DoorDash orders delivered not by a person driving a car or riding a bike but by a drone.

The test, which is launching this week, will be available to a “small number of households” in “select suburbs” of Logan, a town near Brisbane, Queensland, and there are plans to roll it out to more people over the next few months. If you’re lucky enough to be in that area,...

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The midterms turned politicians into content creators

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro speaks at a rally with former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden. | Photo by Mark Makela / Getty Images

In the middle of a rally during the final week of his campaign, Josh Shapiro received his first notification to BeReal. The on-the-spot photo app has amassed a huge following amongst young people seeking authenticity over platforms that encourage more polished posts — but it’s an unusual platform for politicians, who are used to more painstakingly rehearsed contact with voters.

For the Shapiro team, launching the BeReal account was a natural next step for their digital program that hasn’t just advertised Shapiro as a candidate but also cast him as the leading role on the platforms young people use the most.

“[Young people] see these platforms, where someone has to be wholeheartedly who they are, and they’re a little bit more discerning,”...

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Temperatures are rising at super speed in the US

In an aerial view, dead and dying trees in a drought-stressed juniper and piñon pine forest are seen on September 6th, 2022, southeast of Hite, Utah. | Photo by David McNew / Getty Images

The US is heating up faster than the world as a whole, making the nation already very vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. “The things Americans value most are at risk,” according to a recently released draft of a major national climate report. That includes Americans’ food and water supplies, cherished traditions and pastimes, and communities transforming into untenable places to live.

The warning comes from a draft of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, expected to be finalized next year. The draft was made public yesterday to allow for public comment through January 27th, 2023. National researchers are mandated to deliver the report to Congress and the president every four years to take stock of the many ways global...

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Garmin’s Instinct Crossover is a rugged smartwatch with analog hands

It has analog hands! | Image: Garmin International, Inc.

Garmin has added yet another rugged fitness smartwatch to its lineup. This time, it’s the $499.99 Garmin Instinct Crossover. As the name suggests, it’s a mash-up of a hybrid analog and multisport GPS watch. It’s a baffling combo, but hey, it’s got analog hands.

Hybrid analogs look like traditional watches but have basic smart features like push notifications and alarms. They’re aimed at folks who want a discreet yet sleek wearable that’s good enough for casual fitness tracking. As for the Instinct Crossover — which really sounds like it should be a Suburu — it seems like it’s for folks who want a slightly less “ugly” Garmin without sacrificing rugged capabilities.

Design-wise, it looks like a Garmin. You’ll either love the Casio vibe or...

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Binance will buy FTX after liquidity crisis rumors

Fast times at FTX | The Verge

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, has signed a letter of intent to buy competitor FTX, the third-largest exchange by volume. The acquisition came after a CoinDesk article prompted speculation about FTX’s balance sheet. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

The letter of intent is nonbinding, and Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said the firm will conduct due diligence before the acquisition. Binance’s acquisition came after CZ said on Sunday he’d sell FTX’s FTT token, leading to a plunge in the token’s value. That token was the biggest asset on the balance sheet of Alameda Research, the trading firm also founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of FTX, according to _CoinDesk’_s story.

Bankman-Fried said yesterday that...

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In world-first trial, lab-grown blood was just injected into two people

Photo by Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In a world first, two people were injected with red blood cells grown in a lab as part of a clinical trial, the research team announced this week. It’s a first step toward seeing if lab-grown blood cells are safe and work in the body — which would be a major advance for people living with rare blood types or blood disorders.

“This world leading research lays the groundwork for the manufacture of red blood cells that can safely be used to transfuse people with disorders like sickle cell,” said Farrukh Shah, medical director of transfusion for National Health Service Blood and Transplant in the United Kingdom, in a statement.

The milestone in this trial comes after decades of work trying to figure out how to grow these types of cells in...

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Why Figma is selling to Adobe for $20 billon, with CEO Dylan Field

Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge

We also talk about AI and VR — but we know why you’re here.

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EU opens ‘in-depth investigation’ into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The European Commission has opened what it calls an “in-depth investigation” into Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Regulators in the EU first started looking at Microsoft’s Activision acquisition in September and set a provisional deadline of today to approve it or signal a more in-depth review.

Microsoft now faces a larger probe over its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, with the European Commission set to take 90 working days up to March 23rd to take a decision. The Commission says it’s opening up an in-depth investigation because it’s “concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the markets for the distribution of console” and PC games.

EU regulators are also concerned...

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a breathtaking and cathartic step forward for the franchise.

Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda. | Image: Marvel Studios

Marvel’s Black Panther sequel is a moving farewell to Chadwick Boseman and a heady rumination on the many different forms grief can take in the wake of death.

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Zoom is coming for Microsoft’s territory with email and calendar services

Email and Calendars are now a click away in the new Zoom One interface — no need for a separate client. | Image: Zoom

Zoom is releasing new Mail and Calendar clients and services as part of its latest round of business features announced at its annual Zoomtopia event. Available as a beta release, the Outlook-like Mail and Calendar will slot neatly into the company’s new unified Zoom One interface alongside its other tools like Team Chat, Whiteboard, Phone, and Meetings.

With the recent release of Zoom Team Chat, the company already pushed into Slack and Microsoft Teams territories, and now the race for a complete hybrid work solution that includes instant communications, video, and email is on. Zoom is more closely taking on Microsoft 365 (formally Office 365) in particular by letting companies choose to connect to their existing email service or, if...

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The best Black Friday deals you can already get at Walmart

Walmart is selling the first-gen AirPods Pro for just $159, which is a $90 discount. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Just like Best Buy and Target, Walmart’s already starting to release some of its Black Friday deals so you can get a head start. The retailer started rolling out discounts online as part of its Deals for Days event last night and will be adding even more new deals every Monday at 7PM ET / 4PM PT. Walmart will also be rolling out its early Black Friday deals in stores starting at 6AM local time on Wednesday, November 9th.

Although it’s possible we’ll see prices drop even more on Black Friday itself, Walmart is already offering some steep discounts you’ll want to check out on popular products, including the first-gen AirPods Pro. For your convenience, we’ve curated some of the best tech deals at Walmart for you to check out here. If you...

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The lawsuit that could rewrite the rules of AI copyright

The key question in the lawsuit is whether open-source code can be reproduced by AI without attached licenses. | Credit: Getty Images

Microsoft, its subsidiary GitHub, and its business partner OpenAI have been targeted in a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that the companies’ creation of AI-powered coding assistant GitHub Copilot relies on “software piracy on an unprecedented scale.” The case is only in its earliest stages but could have a huge effect on the broader world of AI, where companies are making fortunes training software on copyright-protected data.

Copilot, which was unveiled by Microsoft-owned GitHub in June 2021, is trained on public repositories of code scraped from the web, many of which are published with licenses that require anyone reusing the code to credit its creators. Copilot has been found to regurgitate long sections of licensed code...

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Nintendo will ‘strengthen digitalization’ in new partnership with Super Mario Run developer

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Nintendo could be planning a deeper dive into the mobile gaming industry to make up for a slowdown in Switch sales. Along with its earnings report released on Tuesday (PDF), the company announced a joint venture with DeNA, the Japanese mobile gaming giant that co-developed several Nintendo titles for iOS and Android, including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Mario Kart Tour.

The joint venture will establish a new company called Nintendo Systems Co., Ltd, which is set to open in April 2023. Nintendo first partnered with DeNA in 2015 and says the joint venture will “strengthen the digitalization of Nintendo’s business,” which has already proven incredibly lucrative for the company. In May, data...

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This AI-powered image editor can help online vendors create unique product shots

PhotoRoom’s new feature has a few issues to work on, but it’s a great example of how AI-powered image generation could be practically applied for small businesses. | Image: PhotoRoom / The Verge

Photo editing app PhotoRoom has launched a new feature named Magic Studio that uses AI to personalize product shots for e-commerce vendors and small businesses.

To use the feature, which is powered by the open-source text-to-image AI Stable Diffusion, users first have to upload an image of their product. They’ll then be prompted to describe the item in a single word (bottle, sneaker, lipstick… you get the idea) and describe a desired background or setting. The feature then automatically removes the background, places the item in the newly generated setting, and sends the images via email to the user within a few minutes. Magic Studio can’t be used on shots of humans or animals.

PhotoRoom raised $19 million for its AI photo studio,...

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The Apple Watch Series 8 with LTE is more than $100 off right now

The Apple Watch Series 8 is at a new low price today. | Image: Apple

With Black Friday just a few weeks away now, the deals seem to be just getting better and better. If you were waiting until the big day to score a stellar deal on the new Apple Watch Series 8, Amazon already has you covered. The retailer is currently offering $110 off the 41mm LTE-enabled wearable in blue and red, dropping the final sale price to $389. That’s a new all-time low on the flagship wearable, which offers several improvements over the last-gen model, including temperature sensors and car crash detection. If you don’t need the newer features, however, you can also buy the 41mm LTE-enabled Apple Watch Series 7 in blue for $329 instead of $499 at Walmart or in green for $10 more at Best Buy.

The current deal pricing is excellent...

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The creators of Pokémon Unite are bringing Monster Hunter to mobile

Monster Hunter: World. | Image: Capcom

The Monster Hunter series is coming to your smartphone. Capcom has announced a partnership with TiMi Studio Group for a new Monster Hunter title developed specifically for mobile. There aren’t many details on the actual game — including when it might be available — but the companies say that “the in-development game will reproduce the hunting actions that define the Monster Hunter series, and offers players a new game experience unique for mobile devices and phones.”

If the TiMi name sounds familiar, it’s because the studio is behind some of the biggest mobile games around, including the massive Chinese hit Honor of Kings. The Tencent-owned studio has also developed several notable mobile adaptations of major franchises, like Pokémon...

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Tesla critic claims his anti-Tesla ad was banned from Twitter for ‘political’ reasons

Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge

A vocal Tesla critic is alleging that Twitter rejected an anti-Tesla ad from his safety advocacy group, claiming that the ad violates the company’s policy against “political” advertising.

The Dawn Project, an anti-Tesla advocacy group fronted by software developer Dan O’Dowd, claims that Twitter rejected its attempts to promote a tweet about a full-page ad running in The New York Times criticizing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. In a screenshot of an email provided by the group, Twitter said the tweet contravened its policy regarding “political” ads.

The rejected ad was the latest development in a weird, long-running feud between Elon Musk and O’Dowd, who ran a failed campaign for US Senate in California earlier this year. In...

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Netflix’s Triviaverse is a speedy new trivia game you can play with a friend

These glowing eyes will be your host. | Image: Netflix

Netflix’s Triviaverse is a new a “quick-hit trivia experience” that will begin rolling out on the streaming service on Tuesday_._ Games are fast, typically under five minutes, and you can play by yourself or head-to-head with another person. I got to check it out ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, and I think a lot of people will be loading it up for fierce trivia competitions with loved ones over the holidays.

Here’s how it works. Guided by your host, a mysterious pair of spooky glowing eyes, you’ll pick if you’re playing solo or against someone else. Each round features an increasingly difficult series of trivia questions, and you’ll have a minute to correctly answer as many as you can. You’ll be tasked with solving trivia across a bunch...

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Amazon Photos has finally been redesigned for Android users

Amazon emphasizes that the new navigation options are all “within a thumb’s reach.” | Image: Amazon

Amazon Photos on Android has been redesigned to make app navigation and sharing photos and videos easier for its users, bringing the service in line with a similar update that rolled out to iOS devices almost a year ago.

Now, Amazon Photo users can search a photo gallery from the home screen singlehandedly — emphasizing navigation options all being “within a thumb’s reach.” Swiping up within the Amazon Photos gallery on your device will open a new control panel where users can find curated features to filter photos by object, place, or year.

Image: Amazon

The new home screen can be navigated using just your thumb and features a new control panel, accessible by swiping up within the gallery.

Tapping the...

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Nvidia’s 12GB RTX 4080 rumored to return as the RTX 4070 Ti

Image: Nvidia

Nvidia paused the launch of its 12GB RTX 4080 graphics card last month, after a backlash over the naming and pricing. Now a well-known leaker says the “unlaunched” GPU will return as the RTX 4070 Ti in January, as Nvidia attempts to fix the confusing naming around two RTX 4080 cards that had totally different specs.

Twitter user kopite7kimi says “the original RTX 4080 12GB will become RTX 4070 Ti instead,” and replied to questions on a January 2023 release date with a thumbs up. Kopite7kimi previously correctly predicted the specifications of the RTX 3090 and RTX 3080, and that the RTX 4090 would require 450 watts of power.

The original RTX 4080 12GB will become RTX 4070 Ti instead.

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) November 8, 2022

A...

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Google and Renault are working on a ‘software-defined vehicle’

Photo by Eric Piermont / AFP via Getty Images

Google and the Renault Group are expanding their four-year-old partnership to include the development of an advanced software platform for future vehicles. This “software-defined vehicle” will be built on Google’s Android Automotive operating system and send data to the company’s cloud servers for processing, the companies announced.

In 2018, Renault struck a deal with Google as part of a broader partnership between the tech giant and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, which collectively is one of the largest auto groups in the world. As part of the deal, the Alliance announced that it would adopt Google’s native car operating system, which offers built-in Assistant, Maps, and Play Store.

Renault says it is appointing Google as...

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Elon Musk has discussed putting all of Twitter behind a paywall

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

If Friday brought massive layoffs to Twitter, Monday brought fresh evidence that the company will never be the same. Musk has discussed putting the entire site behind a paywall, Platformer has learned. Meanwhile, the company is scrambling to lure back employees who it laid off mere hours ago, and some workers say the economics behind its soon-to-relaunch Twitter Blue subscription could actually lose the company money.

All of this took place against the backdrop of a company that still has yet to hear anything official from Musk, via email or a companywide meeting. As Monday began, after losing thousands of their colleagues days earlier, many employees didn’t know who their managers are.

Meanwhile, Musk’s increasingly erratic leadership,...

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