The Polestar 3 will keep an eye on you

As cars add more and more automated driving features, how can car companies be certain these systems won’t be misused to wreak havoc on our roads?

They can’t, actually. That’s why more and more cars with driving-assistance systems are keeping an eye on the human behind the wheel, as well as what’s ahead on the road.

Volvo and Geely’s electric car venture Polestar has announced that audiences at CES will get a taste of the newest driver-monitoring system from Swedish technology company Smart Eye. That technology will be found on the upcoming Polestar 3, the company’s upcoming mass-market electric crossover and ostensibly its most important vehicle to date.

More importantly, driver-monitoring Smart Eye technology will be a standard...

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Apple, Google, and Mozilla are teaming up to make a next-gen browser benchmark

Go Speedtest 3.0. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple, Google, and Mozilla, the makers of Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, are teaming up to create a next-gen browser benchmark called Speedometer 3, according to tweets from all three companies. This means that the major players in the web browser and rendering engine space will have a say in a benchmark that’s meant to test how their apps perform with the latest tech that websites may be using.

In a Twitter thread, Mozilla says that a benchmark built by several web companies will help provide a “shared understanding of what matters.” The company says that’s important when you’re trying to coordinate across web developers, standards bodies, the groups that build the engines that interpret code based on those standards, and the companies...

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Here are the best tablet deals right now

The 128GB configuration of last year’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro is currently discounted to $799.99 at Best Buy. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Tablets exist in a space between phones and laptops that is becoming increasingly muddled. As phones become more powerful and gain larger displays, laptops continue to get lighter. Tablet manufacturers haven’t been resting on their laurels, though. Many of the more recent tablets we’ve seen are looking to bridge the gap in terms of performance and, in select cases, handle some tasks more efficiently than both phones and laptops.

The tablet spectrum is varied, too. Inexpensive models like the Amazon Fire HD 10 make for excellent media streaming devices, while those in Microsoft’s versatile Surface lineup can easily serve as ad-hoc laptops when paired with an optional folio-style keyboard. Then there’s the ubiquitous iPad, a slate that has...

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Anker’s Eufy deleted these 10 privacy promises instead of answering our questions

A Eufy camera in the rain. | Image: Eufy

It’s been two weeks since we reported that Anker’s Eufy lied to us about the security of its security cameras, and we’ve been pushing the company for answers ever since. But the company hasn’t answered a single one of our questions — in fact, I haven’t gotten a single reply since December 1st.

Today, on a whim, I thought I’d take a peek at Eufy’s website... maybe find some answers there? Instead, I found that Anker has quietly scrubbed all of its most promising privacy promises from its “privacy commitment” page. It got nerfed — hard.

Here are 10 things that were written on Eufy’s privacy commitment page as of December 8th, 2022, that are no longer there today:

• “To start, we’re taking every step imaginable to ensure your data remains...

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Sony is making a multiplayer Horizon game

I can’t wait to take on some robot dinos with my friends. | Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Horizon Zero Dawn developer Guerrilla Games is working on a new Horizon online multiplayer game, according to a tweet about jobs at the studio (via Kotaku).

“A new internal team is developing a separate Online Project set in Horizon’s universe,” an image in the tweet reads. “Featuring a new cast of characters and a unique stylized look, friends will be able to explore the majestic wilds of Horizon together.”

Join Guerrilla in Amsterdam as we work to expand the world of Horizon

It's an exciting time to join us! We have many open roles across multiple departments, so check them out on our Careers page and apply today!https://t.co/G9tvnSkQQQ pic.twitter.com/Xqab1JGabV

— Life at Guerrilla (@LifeAtGuerrilla) December 16, 2022

We don’t...

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Apple’s rumored NFL Sunday Ticket deal might not happen this year

Seems like we’ll be waiting a little bit longer to hear about the next home for NFL Sunday Ticket. | Photo by Christopher Mast / Getty Images

Apple’s long-rumored deal for NFL Sunday Ticket may not happen this year after all. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this summer that the NFL expected to pick where the lucrative broadcasting rights would land by the fall. But with less than a week until winter and a little over two weeks left in the year, it seems increasingly unlikely that an NFL Sunday Ticket deal will be done before 2023.

A new report from Sportico has some updates about the status of the next deal. Negotiations are at “a very critical point” for the NFL, Goodell apparently said Wednesday, though he also noted that “our decisions are not based on timelines.” Apple is still expected to get the rights, but one of its requests would be a giant ask: the company...

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Elon Musk temporarily suspends Twitter Spaces after being confronted by banned journalist

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge

Last night, Elon Musk popped into a Spaces chat discussing his move to ban a bunch of journalists’ accounts from the platform. Confronted by Buzzfeed News’ Katie Notopoulos and The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell (who was one of the banned reporters) on how he can claim to support free speech while also ejecting journalists who report information about him that he does not like, Musk stuck to his refrain of “you dox, you get suspended.” (The banned users had not, in fact, doxxed him.) He dipped out when pressed further.

Within hours, Twitter Spaces was at least partially removed from the platform, with users saying they were unable to access it on iOS or Android. Musk claimed that the feature was removed to fix a newly identified bug:...

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The Verge’s 2022 holiday gift guide for creators

Photography by Joel Goldberg for The Verge

Finding that perfect gift for a creator can be challenging, which is why we’ve compiled all kinds of useful and fun ideas for all kinds of folks, from TikTokers and Twitch streamers to photographers.

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How to upgrade to the new Apple Home architecture

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

With the release of iOS 16.2 this week, you can now upgrade your Apple HomeKit smart home to a new underlying architecture, which Apple says “will improve the performance and reliability of the accessories in your home.”

This new foundation for Apple’s smart home was first announced at WWDC and is part of the company’s preparation for Matter, the new smart home interoperability standard.

Apple’s been preparing for this for a while. First came the all-new Home app with iOS 16, then iOS 16.1 brought support for Matter. Now, with iOS 16.2, Apple Home is getting a ground-up, under-the-hood rebuild.

This all sounds exciting, especially to anyone plagued by “Accessory not responding” notifications in the Home app and / or slow response times...

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Cruise’s robotaxis are under investigation for sudden braking and blocking traffic

Image: Getty

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into General Motors’ Cruise, citing incidents in which the company’s autonomous vehicles have blocked the road or caused rear-end collisions.

NHTSA is examining incidents in which Cruise’s vehicles “engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized.” There are three incidents that the agency is probing in which Cruise vehicles were struck from behind after braking suddenly. In each incident, a safety driver was present in the vehicle.

“Although the two types of incidents appear to be distinct, they each result in the Cruise vehicles becoming unexpected roadway obstacles,” NHTSA states in its report. “This may introduce multiple potential hazards...

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Waymo’s driverless robotaxis are now doing airport trips in Phoenix

Waymo is sending its fully driverless cars to handle some of the trickiest types of passenger pickups you can muster: airport trips. The company announced that customers flying in and out of Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport will now be able to hail one of the company’s “rider only” vehicles, a sign that the Alphabet company is willing to take on more risk as it seeks to bolster the case for a fully autonomous taxi service.

Waymo is also expanding the size of its service area in both Phoenix and San Francisco as it seeks to send the message that despite all the recent dour headlines about the future of autonomous vehicles, its robotaxi business is still going strong.

“No waitlist, no NDAs, no hours restriction, 24/7 service,” said Waymo...

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How to get your news fix now that Twitter sucks

Bye. | Illustration by Alex Castro

A few weeks ago, I deleted Twitter from my phone and tablet. This was a long time coming, and the reasons I chose to do it are obvious, so I’m not here to write an essay about why I did. Instead, I’m here to provide some tips if you, like me, used to rely on Twitter for staying on top of news and events and don’t want to use Twitter to do so anymore.

I used a lot of the tools here before I deleted Twitter, but they’ve become more useful and prominent in my screen time calculations without Twitter around. (And no, deleting Twitter did not reduce my screen time, sadly.) Some of them may be obvious and some of them may be new to you, but here’s what I’m doing to keep up with both general news and topics I’m interested in specifically.

A...

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Snag a refurbished Sonos Beam soundbar for $80 off

This image shows off the white Beam, but today’s deal loops in the black-colored Beam. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

A nice rug can really tie a room together, but I think a good soundbar has similar powers. Sonos’ refurbished outlet is offering two color schemes of the first-generation Beam soundbar for $80 off its usual selling price. The plain black and shadow black Beam are $239 each. Unlike most soundbars, there’s no wireless subwoofer that comes with the Beam; all of the sound (and a surprising level of punchy bass) emanates from the soundbar itself. It’s easy to set up, and it can be incorporated into a larger set of Sonos speakers connected via Wi-Fi for a fuller sound. Here’s our review from 2018.

You may know that Sonos has a newer second-generation Beam that has some minor design refinements plus Dolby Atmos support. It’s a better soundbar...

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Unpleasant weather brings out unpleasant emotions on social media, study shows

An abandoned and melting pint of ice cream along a city street on June 27th, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. | Photo by Nathan Howard / Getty Images

Heat spells and downpours are serious mood killers, a huge analysis of Twitter conversations confirms. The international study is part of efforts to understand how climate change affects mental health around the world.

Scrutinizing tweets from 190 countries, nearly every one on Earth, researchers looked at how “positive” and “negative” expressions shifted during extreme heat and rainfall events. Unsurprisingly, they found that during bad weather, negative sentiments became noisier and positive expressions became few and far between in each region. While it might seem obvious that bad weather can put people in bad moods, researchers see the consistency of the findings as a warning that people might be struggling to adapt to climate...

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Amazon Echo Show 15 review: Alexa’s on your wall

This Echo Show on the wall is the fairest smart display of them all. Updates to support Fire TV, new widget options, and a better Photo Frame mode make the flagship Echo a winner.

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A stealthy startup led by Tidal’s former COO plans to turn throwback tracks into modern hits

Chris Putnam/Future Publishing via Getty Images

It’s payday for some of music’s biggest names: Bruce Springsteen sold the rights to his catalog for a reported $550 million last year. Bob Dylan struck a similar deal for an estimated $300 million in late 2020. Paul Simon’s catalog changed hands for $250 million. And in early 2022, David Bowie’s estate secured at least $250 million in a deal encompassing titles from nearly 30 albums.

This music rights gold rush is due to both the explosion of music streaming and tunes on TikTok as well as an ever-growing need to supply global video services like Netflix with soundtracks to their shows and movies. Now, Duetti, a stealthy startup co-founded by two former streaming execs, wants to flip the practice on its head. Instead of giving big-name...

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The first teaser for the Barbie movie shows that life in plastic is fantastic

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Right now, theaters are very blue, but by next summer, that’ll change to a bright shade of pink. In anticipation, Warner Bros. released the very first teaser trailer for the Barbie movie today. It starts out as an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey, only, you know, with dolls instead of monoliths. It then gives just the briefest glimpse of the candy-coated live-action world of the film itself.

The live-action take on the toy stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken and also features the likes of Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Ncuti Gatwa, and Hari Nef as additional versions of the iconic characters. It’s directed by Greta Gerwig, best known for Lady Bird and Little Women. The film caused quite a stir earlier this year when the first...

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Henry Cavill to star in live-action Warhammer project for Amazon

Henry Cavill. | Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Noted Warhammer nerd Henry Cavill is set to do a little something more than paint elaborate figures: he’s going to feature in a new Warhammer live-action project on Amazon. Reports of the project first surfaced last night, and this morning, Cavill confirmed the news on his Instagram account.

“For 30 years I have dreamt of seeing a Warhammer universe in live action,” he wrote. “Now, after 22 years of experience in this industry, I finally feel that I have the skill set and experience to guide a Warhammer Cinematic Universe into life.” He added that “having a home like Amazon will give us the freedom to be true to the massive scope of Warhammer,” perhaps alluding to the very expensive The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, which...

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HTC will announce a lightweight Meta Quest competitor at CES

The yet unnamed HTC headset. | Image: HTC

HTC plans to introduce a new flagship AR / VR headset next month that will reestablish its presence in the consumer virtual reality space. The company isn’t planning to release full details until CES on January 5th. But HTC global head of product Shen Ye spoke exclusively with The Verge about what it’s trying to achieve with its new design: a small, light all-in-one headset that promises full-featured virtual and augmented reality.

“It’s about taking all of these advances that we made in not only the design aspects, but also the technology aspects, and building it into something that’s meaningful and that’s appealing for consumers,” Ye says.

Based on an image shared with The Verge, the unnamed headset has a goggles-like look with front-...

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Fortnite just kicked off its latest anime collab with My Hero Academia

Image: Epic Games

The world of Fortnite is about to get even more anime. Starting at 7AM ET today, the battle royale game will kick off its latest anime crossover, this time with My Hero Academia.

The collab will include four characters from the series available to purchase in the item shop — Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, and All Might — as well as a Hero Training Gym to mess around on in creative mode and quests to complete to earn items like a cape and MHA emotes. Perhaps most notable, the Deku smash move from the show will become a power-up to use in the game.

Here’s a look at the new character skins:

This is the second major anime crossover for Fortnite, following an elaborate Dragon Ball event in August. Developer Epic Games has...

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Motorola ThinkPhone leak shows off a Lenovo ThinkPad-like phone

Image: The Tech Outlook

Have you always wanted the same carbon fiber Lenovo ThinkPad design in a phone? Well you might be in luck soon because leaked images of a “ThinkPhone by Motorola” over at The Tech Outlook (spotted by Android Police) show a handset with the exact carbon-fiber styling of Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptops. Motorola owner Lenovo is even using the traditional ThinkPad font on the ThinkPhone.

The leaked specs suggest the ThinkPhone will use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip inside with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. That’s not Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship chip that’s just starting to appear in new devices, but the same chip announced in May that’s been shipping in handsets from Honor, Oppo, and Xiaomi ever since.

...

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New Pokémon series will feature Scarlet and Violet starters

Image: The Pokèmon Company

Now that Ash — not me, though I understand your confusion — has finally, after 25 years of not aging, become the Pokémon Champion, it seems like the animated series is saying goodbye to the very best. Nestled in the announcement that there’s a new Pokémon animated series on the horizon was the tidbit that after the end of the current series — Pokémon Ultimate Journeys — will be special episodes paying tribute to Ash’s many achievements.

“To conclude Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, fans can enjoy a collection of special episodes commemorating Ash and his Pikachu’s 25-season journey to becoming Pokémon World Champion,” the press release reads. “The episodes offer a glimpse at what the future may hold for the world’s strongest...

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Steam’s annual winter sale kicks off next week

The Verge

Valve’s big Steam winter sale starts next week. Thousands of titles will be discounted between December 22nd and January 5th, with the winter sale beginning at 10AM PT / 1PM ET on the 22nd.

There are usually some good deals, too. We’ve seen 50 percent off Halo: The Master Chief Collection in the past, as well as 50 percent off Control Ultimate Edition. This year Valve is teasing deals on Fallout 76, SD Gundam Battle Alliance, Ready or Not, Two Point Campus, Persona 5 Royal, Sonic Frontiers, F1 Manager 2022, and thousands more. As always, tis the season to buy things you’ll probably forget to play.

Valve is also replacing its Luna New Year sale with an annual spring sale starting in 2023. The first spring sale will take place between...

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Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon

It’s not as easy to share where you might go next. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is blocking users from tweeting links to many major servers for Mastodon, one of the most notable Twitter alternatives. The ban was enacted sometime during what’s been a chaotic Thursday evening on the platform after journalists and Mastodon’s own account were unexpectedly suspended.

Attempting to tweet many Mastodon links will result in an error message saying, “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful.” Twitter is currently blocking links to the original mastodon.social server and more than 10 other domains The Verge tested.

The ban on Mastodon follows the recent controversy around @ElonJet, an account that tracks the whereabouts of Twitter CEO...

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The Accord will be Honda’s first car to offer Google built-in

2023 Honda Accord with Google built-in supports smooth multi-touch. | Image: Honda

Honda’s next Accord will be the automaker’s first vehicle to support Google built-in integration, enabling native Android apps and over the air (OTA) software updates (via Automotive News). It will be included as a standard feature in the top Touring trim of the 2023 Accord, arriving early next year.

If you’ve never heard of “Google built-in,” that’s because it’s just another name for Android Automotive — the software giant’s vehicle operating system. Considering Google also has a similarly-named phone-to-car integration system called Android Auto (like Apple’s CarPlay), it makes sense that the less confusing “Google built-in” seems to be the company’s preferred name going forward.

Honda hasn’t revealed if its other vehicles will be...

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The Verge’s favorite holiday gifts under $100

Photography by Joel Goldberg for The Verge

If you’re trying to save this season, we’ve pulled together a host of fantastic gifts you can buy for less than $100, ranging from e-readers to Instant Pots.

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Elon Musk starts banning critical journalists from Twitter

Many accounts have been suspended. | Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Twitter has suspended the accounts of several prominent reporters on Twitter, such as The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, The Intercept’s Micha Lee, Mashable’s Matt Binder, Aaron Rupar, Tony Webster, and potentially more. A list of the suspensions is being compiled by NBC’s Ben Collins.

Currently, it’s unclear why the bans are taking place. The reporters being banned largely cover technology, and most appear to have recently written stories on Elon Musk.

“I have not received any communications from Twitter whatsoever, other than a notice at the top of my feed that I am permanently banned and in read-only mode,” said Rupar in an email to The Verge. “I have no idea what could have...

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Twitter suspends Mastodon after it tweeted about Elon’s jet

I’ll miss those cute elephants. | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Twitter has suspended the official Twitter account of Mastodon, one of the most popular destinations for people seeking a Twitter-like alternative. If you visit @joinmastodon’s profile, you’ll see a message that the account has been suspended.

We don’t know exactly why the account was banned, but it may not have been done entirely out of spite for a rival platform. Instead, it could have been because Mastodon tweeted about @ElonJet.

The Mastodon suspension happened sometime on Thursday. The Wayback Machine has an archive of the active profile from 12:39PM ET, but an archive from 6:12PM ET shows the suspended page. On the archive of the active profile, there’s a tweet pointing to @ElonJet’s Mastodon account.

On Wednesday, Twitter s...

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Google’s stranglehold on the mapping space could be challenged by new initiative from Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and others

Illustration: The Verge

Meta, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and mapping company TomTom have launched a new mapping initiative in partnership with The Linux Foundation that could challenge the dominance Google holds in the mapping world, TechCrunch reports.

The recently launched Overture Maps Foundation aims to encourage the development of new map products with openly available databases members can contribute to and reuse across companies and apps. It will additionally use open data that already exists from city planning departments as well as open-source projects like OpenStreetMap.

While there are only four companies at the moment driving the initiative, the foundation intends on inviting other businesses and communities to join as well.

“Mapping the...

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LG’s UltraGear OLED gaming monitors look as good in person as I hoped

It’s no surprise that these OLEDs look amazing no matter what angle you’re viewing them from.

Thankfully, I don’t have to wait until CES 2023 in January to tell you about my experience seeing LG’s two esports-ready OLED gaming monitors. LG’s flat 27- and curved 45-inch UltraGear 1440p monitors are even faster than its TVs in terms of refresh rate and response time, and they look awesome.

In case you missed it, they just went on preorder this week, costing $999 and $1,699, respectively. The 27-inch model will be one of many options if you want an LG OLED panel, with riffs on it coming from companies like Dough and perhaps Asus. And LG’s 45-inch model uses the same display as the curve-it-yourself 45-inch Corsair Xeneon Flex that I got my hands on, but this is the first time I’m getting to see LG’s own fixed-curve version.

Given...

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