The Verge
The Verge guide to the 2022 World Cup
Illustration: Carlo Cadenas / The Verge
The tech, the memes, and everything else you need to know ahead of the most controversial World Cup in history.
The VergeThe VergePokémon Scarlet and Violet Rotom Phone review: it’s a literal lifesaver
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s second-generation Rotom Phone might not look like a major update, but its new safety features are a lifesaving game-changer.
The VergeAmazfit GTR 4 review: the king of budget smartwatches
It’s hard to justify a Fitbit when the Amazfit GTR 4 looks better, lasts longer, and has way more features than you’d expect.
The VergeMicrosoft Teams is getting a sign language view
Sign language view allows signers to prioritize up to two video streams on center stage, in a consistent location during every meeting. | Image: Microsoft
Microsoft has a new dedicated sign language view for its Microsoft Teams video conferencing platform. The feature enables sign language users to select up to two other participants’ videos to be fixed in a central location, allowing designated signers to be visible throughout the meeting.
Microsoft says Teams users can enable the feature for all meetings or on a meeting-by-meeting basis, which is especially useful for non-hearing impaired signers. Sign language interpreters can be pre-assigned prior to starting a meeting if they’re within your organization, and external interpreters can only be assigned within a meeting using the Accessibility tab in the app settings. Microsoft does not provide sign language interpreters for Teams...
The VergeCan Elon Musk turn Twitter into an ‘everything app?’
“The Man Who Knew Nothing About Risk” | Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge
Verification is an old nemesis for Musk.
The VergeWatch an iFixit employee shoot a battery with a nail gun to teach us all about safety
Image: iFixit
Repair specialists iFixit have released a new video of themselves stabbing and, ultimately, nail gunning a series of batteries in the name of teaching the world about battery safety. The takeaway? Despite the high profile examples of battery explosions that occasionally crop up in the news, modern lithium ion batteries are generally very safe so long as you follow some best practices.
Another takeaway? Shooting a giant battery with a nail gun is cool as hell.
The biggest piece of advice from tech writer team lead Arthur Shi and teardown tech Shahram Mokhtari is to always discharge a battery to under 25 percent before doing any teardowns or repairs. That’s because although a swelling battery is the most obvious sign that something is...
The VergeSonic creator Yuji Naka arrested in insider trading scandal
Yuji Naka is best known for co-creating the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and worked at Square Enix on Balan Wonderworld 2018 and 2021. | Image: Square Enix / YouTube
Yuji Naka, the famed co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has reportedly been arrested in Japan (via Fuji News Network) in connection with an insider trading case involving former Square Enix employees.
The scandal centers around former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sazaki, who obtained information that the Dragon Quest Tact mobile game was being jointly created by game developers Square Enix and Aiming. Sazaki and another ex-Square Enix employee, Fumiaki Suzuki, allegedly purchased 162,000 shares in Aiming between December 2019 and February 2020 for approximately 47.2 million yen (around $336,760) prior to the project’s public announcement on February 5th, 2020.
FNN: Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested 57-year-old game...
The VergeFriday’s tech news live: All eyes on Twitter (again)
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
It’s November 18th, 2022 and at least Mei’s back in Overwatch 2
The VergeTwitter’s living wake kicked off with Elon’s 5PM deadline
We don’t know how many of Twitter’s employees looked at Elon Musk’s “take three months’ severance or agree to stay and get Xtreme” offer and decided to head for the exits, but by all available accounts, it was a lot of them.
As my colleagues Alex Heath and Mia Sato report, the departure of entire important teams leads people who know Twitter well to think that it’s only a matter of time until things break down. According to the New York Times, some “critical” employees were pulled into meetings with Musk and his advisors, who tried to persuade them to stay as the time ticked down.
How do you make a small fortune in social media?
Start out with a large one.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
So if this is the end of Twitter,...
The VergeHundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter
Illustration: Jovana Mugosa / The Verge
Musk gave Twitter staff a deadline to say if they are staying for his cultural reset of the company. And right on deadline, the farewell emojis started pouring into Twitter’s Slack.
The VergeAmazon’s CEO says more layoffs will happen in 2023
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Amazon will be cutting jobs again at some point in early 2023, CEO Andy Jassy informed employees in a memo on Thursday. The company publicly confirmed some layoffs on Wednesday, and Jassy says that as Amazon’s annual planning process extends into the new year, “there will be more role reductions as leaders continue to make adjustments.”
Jassy says the company hasn’t determined exactly how many additional roles will be cut but did state that there will be “reductions in our Stores and [People, Experience, and Technology] organizations.” Amazon will inform who will be impacted by the future cuts early next year.
In the Wednesday notice, devices and services SVP Dave Limp said that some staffers in the organization were being laid off,...
The VergeRoku lays off 200 US employees
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Roku has announced that it’s laying off 200 US employees, or around 7 percent of its workforce, according to Variety. According to the company’s statement, the cuts are meant to reduce its “headcount expenses” by around 5 percent as it tries to spend less on operations in the face of “current economic conditions” in the advertising and streaming industry.
In some ways, the move isn’t necessarily surprising — several of Roku’s peers, such as Disney, Netflix, and Meta, have also announced layoffs in recent weeks and months.
However, cutting 200 jobs is a much harsher change than the company was predicting just over two weeks ago when it released its Q3 earnings report. Its shareholder letter does call attention to the fact that its staff...
The VergeMei day: Overwatch 2 frees controversial hero
Image: Blizzard
Everybody mark your calendars: instead of the Christmas holiday season, it’s gonna be Mei. After a brief hiatus to fix a glitch that allowed Mei’s ice wall to boost players to places they shouldn’t be, today’s Overwatch 2 update added her back to the game alongside a host of other hero tweaks and bug fixes.
MEI IS BACK (AND A BUNCH OF OTHER UPDATES!)
Check out the full list of #Overwatch2 Patch Notes.
https://t.co/XPwjZFGLye pic.twitter.com/n6k5TRCI2Q
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) November 17, 2022
In addition to releasing feral Mei mains back onto the general, unsuspecting public, several heroes, including two current meta-defining characters — Genji and Zarya — are also getting hit with the nerf bat.
Zarya’s barriers provide...
The VergeElon Musk’s new email pushes Twitter managers to do his dirty work
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Who, if anyone, does Elon Musk feel is an essential part of Twitter? Whose contributions are valuable enough and “hardcore” enough for him? Would you be willing to bet your job on it?
In new emails sent to Twitter employees today and obtained by The Verge, Musk dares managers to approve remote work at their own risk. “At [the] risk of stating the obvious, any manager who falsely claims that someone reporting to them is doing excellent work or that a given role is essential, whether remote or not, will be exited from the company,” he writes. He has given all employees until 5PM ET Thursday to say yes to staying at his “extremely hardcore” Twitter or leave.
Here is what Musk wrote in his emails today:
Regarding remote work, all that is...
The Verge1Password embraces a passwordless future
Image: 1password
1Password has announced that passkey support will be available to its customers in “early 2023,” allowing users to securely log in to apps and websites without a password.
Support for passkeys’ entirely passwordless authentication may seem like a bewildering feature for a password management service, but 1Password isn’t even the first, with Dashlane already integrating passkeys into its own service earlier this year. Apple has already rolled out support for passkeys via the iCloud Keychain in macOS Ventura and iOS 15, and Google recently announced passkey beta testing for Chrome and Android. Microsoft hasn’t announced public testing yet.
FIDO Alliance member 1Password said “it may take time” to implement support for passkeys
Passkeys are...
The VergeJWST just spotted two unusually bright galaxies from the very early universe
Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope have found two extremely old galaxies from just 300 to 400 million years after the Big Bang. These galaxies are far brighter than expected, causing astronomers to question what they know about how galaxies formed when the universe was young.
“Somehow, the universe has managed to form galaxies faster and earlier than we thought,” said Tommaso Treu, principal investigator for one of JWST’s programs (GLASS-JWST), in a press briefing.
The most distant galaxy identified, called GLASS-z12, is thought to be from 350 million years after the Big Bang. The galaxies were identified in two JWST programs, the GLASS-JWST Early Release Science Program (Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space) and Cosmic...
The VergeYou can now self-assemble the Peloton Bike you bought on Amazon
The self-assembly option is only available if you bought your Peloton Bike off Amazon. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Peloton is now offering customers the option to assemble their bikes on their own. There are a couple of caveats, though. The option is only available for folks who buy the original Peloton Bike on Amazon, and it doesn’t come with any discounts.
We first heard rumors about self-assembly in August. Peloton confirmed it a few weeks later when it announced its partnership with Amazon. Previously, you had to set up a date and time for a white-glove delivery and allow people into your home for installation. According to a Peloton blog, the company decided to explore self-assembly after members said they wanted to be “involved in the set-up process.”
Customers who laugh in the face of Allen wrenches can find an 11-minute instructional video...
The VergeTicketmaster cancels its public sale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets
Basically: they sold all the tickets in the presale. | Photo by Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic
Ticketmaster is canceling the upcoming public sale of Taylor Swift tickets after the presale debacle earlier this week. Ticketmaster said it canceled the sale “due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand” in a tweet Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday’s presale for Swift’s The Eras Tour was a disaster, with Ticketmaster crashing following “historically unprecedented demand.” Ticketmaster said millions came to the service to try and buy presale tickets.
Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow's public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled.
— Ticketmaster...
The VergeHere’s YouTube’s new startup sound
Tudum, but Google. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
YouTube is rolling out a new startup sound that sounds a lot like a Google-y version of Netflix’s “tudum.” You can hear it right here or in the trailer at the top of this post, which also features a slick new startup animation.
I wasn’t aware of this sound until Thursday, but Google says in a new blog that you might have already noticed the new sound if you’ve used YouTube on a TV. I just checked the YouTube app on PS5, and sure enough, there it was. But it didn’t play for me on the Apple TV YouTube app.
Google’s blog goes into extensive detail about how it designed the sound in partnership with the “sonic branding” studio Antfood. The intention was to make a sound that was:
Human. A sound that conveys the emotion, texture and organic...
The VergeGeneral Motors says it will stop burning cash on electric vehicles by 2025
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
General Motors wants to be the biggest seller of electric vehicles in North America (maybe the planet, too?) and so far, it’s burning a lot of cash to get there. But by 2025, the cash burning will officially cease, as the company projects its EV program will be “solidly profitable” by then.
The company, which is the largest automaker in North America, outlined the plan to achieve this goal to investors at a splashy event in Manhattan on Thursday. GM said it will sell 1 million EVs annually starting in 2025, and to illustrate this point, it had a variety of electric models on display, including the stunning $300,000 fastback Cadillac Celestiq that was first unveiled last month.
Selling 1 million EVs a year will be no easy task
Selling 1...
The VergeBrightDrop, GM’s electric delivery company, projects $1 billion in revenue in 2023
Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge
BrightDrop, the EV logistics company owned by General Motors, projects it will reach $1 billion in revenue in 2023, making it one of the fastest companies in history to reach that milestone.
The announcement was made in advance of a GM investor event, at which the automaker was expected to outline its plan to cover its massive investments in electric vehicle development amid a cooling economy. And it comes just shy of two years since GM announced the creation of BrightDrop as its effort to corner the market on electric delivery vehicles.
Since then, the company has released a modest slate of products, including the Zevo 600 electric van, an electric pallet for moving packages, and a suite of fleet management software. And it’s adding...
The VergeShroud now has his own gaming PC — and a chunk of the company that made it
The Maingear MG-1, Shroud Edition. | Image: Maingear
Maingear has quietly hand-built custom gaming PCs in New Jersey for the past 20 years, occasionally landing splashy partnerships to generate intriguing new systems. Now, it’s teaming up with one of the world’s biggest streamers: Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek.
Today, the 50-person company is not only revealing a new desktop born out of the Shroud partnership but also a new company logo, as well as the “first full 3D product configurator”. That way, you can spin around a 3D model before you let them charge your credit card for a prebuilt gaming rig.
Getting “celebrity creative director” vibes here, but we’ll see!
Oh, and one other thing: Maingear says Shroud is now a co-owner of the company, whatever that means. “shroud now owns a significant...
The VergeNew Twitter accounts won’t be able to buy Blue verification for 90 days
Want the check mark? You may have to wait. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter won’t let accounts less than 90 days old sign up for its Blue subscription service when it relaunches (presumably on the 29th), according to an update to the About Twitter Blue page. This means that you won’t be able to just create a new account and instantly get it verified, which could be a bid to cut down on scams and impersonator accounts like the ones that almost immediately plagued the service the first time the updated Blue launched.
The old program didn’t have a set waiting period, according to an archive of the page provided by the Wayback Machine, but it did have a warning that “Twitter accounts created on or after November 9, 2022, will be unable to subscribe to Twitter Blue at this time.” While that restriction...
The VergeLet’s enjoy this FTX bankruptcy filing together
Illustration: The Verge
The thing that’s under-appreciated about lawyers — largely because they are so annoying — is that they are also writers and often talented ones. And so, in the spirit of literary appreciation, let’s all do a close read of theabsolute banger filed today by John J. Ray III in the FTX bankruptcy case.
Who’s Ray? He’s the guy running FTX now, and in the filing, he writes:
I have over 40 years of legal and restructuring experience. I have been the Chief Restructuring Officer or Chief Executive Officer in several of the largest corporate failures in history. I have supervised situations involving allegations of criminal activity and malfeasance (Enron). I have supervised situations involving novel financial structures (Enron and Residential...
The VergeElemental’s first teaser trailer is a steamy meet-cute from Pixar
Image: Pixar
Pixar is introducing its next animated feature with a public transit ride. The first teaser trailer for Elemental reveals the studio’s next high-concept world — it’s set in “Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together” — by showing how all these different groups get on while mingling on the subway. There are water beings taking baths, air people hanging out on the ceiling, and land parents carrying their kids around in clay pots. It ends when the two main characters, Ember and Wade — voiced by Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, respectively — bump into each other amid the chaos.
Elemental, which was properly unveiled earlier this year, is Pixar’s only release planned for 2023. This follows a busy 2022, which saw...
The VergeThe Crisis Core: FF7 remaster performance chart shows how complicated console gaming has become
Zack and the Cactuar may not look as good on older consoles. | Image: Square Enix
The remaster of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is out in less than a month, and if you have any recent console platform, you’ll be able to play it. But depending on which console you have, the resolution and frame rate will differ quite a bit, demonstrating just how complex console gaming has become.
At the top end — the PS5 and Xbox Series X — you’ll be able to play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion in 4K at a maximum of 60 frames per second. But if you’re playing on Switch, you’re getting the short end of the stick at 720p and 30fps in both docked and handheld mode. If you have a PS4 or Xbox One, performance will be different depending on which specific model you’re playing on. On Xbox Series S, the maximum resolution will be...
The VergeMeta is working with FIFA to curb online harassment at the World Cup
After previously failing to protect England’s Black football players, Meta has posted a statement reiterating its existing policies regarding online abuse ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. | Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Meta is attempting to get ahead of harassment concerns during the 2022 FIFA World Cup by laying out what the company is doing to protect players and fans from harmful content. Both Facebook and Instagram were criticized last year for failing to protect Black players on England’s national football team from racist abuse, with players being bombarded with harassment during the 2021 European Championship tournament that resulted in a social media boycott from teams and organizations across England.
In a blog post today, Meta says it is working with teams and associations like FIFA to teach players how to use anti-harassment features on Instagram, like “hidden words” and “limits.” It also highlights that it introduced new nudges to Instagram...
The VergePutting Amazon’s Alexa in space is harder than you think
A demo version of the Callisto technology payload on the Orion. The device includes Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and an iPad running Webex. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
We sent our smart home reviewer to check out an Alexa designed for space travel before it launched on its journey to the Moon.
The VergeFired SpaceX employees file charges with National Labor Relations Board
SpaceX founder Elon Musk during an event on August 25th, 2022, in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. | Photo by Michael Gonzalez / Getty Images
A group of former SpaceX employees has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, The New York Times reports. The employees say they were fired illegally after putting together a letter that called on the company to strengthen its “zero-tolerance policies” following sexual harassment allegations against Elon Musk.
Nine employees were ultimately fired after the letter came out in June, the Times reports, eight of whom filed the charges with federal regulators. The letter, first reported on by The Verge, asked SpaceX executives for three things: to curb “Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior,” to define and enforce the company’s sexual harassment policies, and ensure that all leadership is held accountable for...
The VergeBel-Air’s second season hits Peacock this February
Jabari Banks as Will Smith and Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks. | Peacock
Just in time to mark the anniversary of its season 1 debut on Peacock, Bel-Airis about to return to the streaming service for a second season of stories inspired by the original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
After a season of focusing on young Will Smith (Jabari Banks) doing his best to get used to living with his upper-middle-class relatives in all their uber-luxe trappings, Bel-Air’s first season came to a dramatic close by unexpectedly bringing Will’s father Lou (Marlon Wayans) back into the picture. Between seeing his absentee father for the first time in years and learning that most of the adults in his family had been keeping a number of thorny secrets from him, Will came close to calling it quits in LA, and it seemed as if he was...