Lenovo’s new laptops will make you choose between a bigger screen or a nicer screen

The 16-inch version of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5. | Image: Lenovo

Lenovo’s latest refresh of its midrange IdeaPad Slim 5 laptops adds the option for an OLED display. But the company is making customers choose: they can either take the vibrant 14-inch OLED screen or a larger 16-inch screen but with a less premium IPS LCD display. These new eighth-generation iterations replace the outgoing Slim 5 in 14- and 15.6-inch options but retain the document-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio that makes these effective office / productivity laptops.

The 14-inch IdeaPad Slim 5 might be, if anything, the more compelling update from the last generation. It not only has that OLED screen, but now, it’s also brighter at 400 nits versus 300 on the older one and covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. It’s configurable...

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Hands-on with Sony’s DualSense Edge, the $200 PS5 gamepad

The Sony DualSense Edge. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

How do you build a better controller than the best gamepad that’s come along in years? Sony’s strategy with the DualSense Edge — arriving January 26th for $199.99 — was familiarity. Instead of changing how buttons feel or where they’re located, Sony’s designers took an entirely additive approach, making a highly configurable version of its original PS5 controller that does more while feeling practically identical.

The Edge is the same size, the same shape, and has the same buttons and joysticks as far as my fingers can tell. Only now, you get two kinds of rear paddles, adjustable hair triggers, swappable stick tops (including the classic PlayStation domes), the ability to remap almost every button on the controller and adjust joystick...

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Sony’s $200 DualSense Edge for PS5 will have ‘moderately shorter’ battery life

Sony’s DualSense Edge.

I just published my hands-on impressions of Sony’s new DualSense Edge gamepad — the $200 answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Elite controllers — and I came away fairly impressed. But you should know that there’s one not so impressive change from the original DualSense controller. It’s got less battery life, Sony confirms to The Verge.

Here’s the company’s full statement about that:

The DualSense Edge wireless controller’s operating time is moderately shorter than the original DualSense wireless controller because we’ve included many more features within the same form factor and ergonomic design as the original DualSense controller. We wanted to strike a good balance between wireless operating time and delivering robust, high-performance features....

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The 2023 gadget I’m most excited for is actually a tiny budget laptop

This is the “Abyss Blue” model. | Image: Lenovo

It can be hard to find good-looking laptops under $400. I try, very hard, every year. You see a lot of low-resolution screens, clunky keyboards, bad webcams, and — most commonly — very ugly devices.

This is what makes me very happy to hear about the IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook, which Lenovo just announced this morning. This Chromebook will start at $349.99 — and that, from what I’ve read about this device, seems like a surprisingly low price point. For a sub-$400 computer, the Flex looks remarkably not terrible and has a number of handy features.

Here’s the Flex 3i Chromebook that’s coming in May 2023:

Image: Lenovo

This model is “Cloud Grey.”

You may not find this design eye-popping, but check out its...

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Fails of 2022: Peloton’s year of layoffs, gaffes, and ship metaphors

Micha Huigen / The Verge

The year 2021 wasn’t great for Peloton. Its stock tanked. Its premium treadmill killed a small child, injured several others, and wound up being recalled. Its new, affordable treadmill also ended up being recalled before it ever officially launched. By December, Peloton was the butt of everyone’s jokes after Mr. Big, a major Sex and the City character, died on his Peloton Bike in the first episode of HBO’s sequel And Just Like That....Peloton tried to clap back with a cheeky commercial.That backfired. The year ended with murmurs about a potential sale.

And yet, somehow, 2022 was worse.

Peloton opened 2022 with a fumble, followed by yet another TV character having a heart attack on its Bike. Soon after, then-CEO John Foley stepped...

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More than two million users have flocked to Mastodon since Elon Musk took over Twitter

A lot of people are checking it out. | Image: Mastodon

Mastodon, a decentralized social media platform that many are turning to as a Twitter alternative, saw its userbase skyrocket from about 300,000 monthly active users to 2.5 million between October and November, Mastodon’s CEO, founder, and lead developer Eugen Rochko said in a new blog post. Elon Musk officially took over Twitter in late October, meaning Mastodon’s huge jump in users almost directly followed Musk’s new ownership.

Rochko’s post also addressed Twitter’s now-reversed bans on sharing links to Mastodon, many journalists, and the @joinmastodon account itself following the still-in-place ban on @ElonJet. “This is a stark reminder that centralized platforms can impose arbitrary and unfair limits on what you can and can’t say...

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The Verge’s 2022 holiday gift guide for moms

Photography by Joel Goldberg for The Verge

Mom, mum, mammy, mother dearest. No mom is the same. Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of gift ideas so that you’ll be able to find something awesome to give to the mother figure in your life — no matter what name she goes by.

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The Verge’s 2022 fitness and wellness gift guide

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Keeping your mind and body in tip-top shape takes work, but these gift ideas should make things a bit easier for the fitness buff in your life.

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Here’s where you can buy a PS5

Getting a PlayStation 5 no longer has to be an uphill battle. Thanks to the increased availability of Sony’s next-gen console, there are multiple options for bringing home a PS5. While availability is sometimes limited to bundles that come packaged with a game, this is still a great opportunity to bring home a console relatively stress-free. We’re keeping a lookout across the web to find where, when, and how you can buy either the PS5 (with a disc drive) or the PS5 Digital Edition, as well as any bundles that are not price surged.

Demand for this console is still high, with no guarantees that inventory will remain available for long. Nevertheless, we’ll do our best to keep this article updated with the latest in-stock alerts and tell...

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T-Mobile’s latest stunt aims to capitalize on your hatred of Comcast

T-Mobile is paying Comcast headquarters a visit today. | Image: T-Mobile

From the minds that gave us 5G gin comes T-Mobile’s latest publicity grab: a truck driving in circles around Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia with a message reading: “Make Xfinity your ex.”

This oh-so-subtle messaging comes with an offer to Comcast customers, tempting them to switch to T-Mobile’s 5G home internet service for $25 per month (provided you have a “qualifying voice line”). It also underscores just how important fixed wireless broadband is to T-Mobile as it looks for ways to capitalize on its early lead in 5G and take a bite out of the cable company’s home internet business.

Some of T-Mobile’s interest in home internet is thanks to a condition of its Sprint acquisition. In exchange for reducing our wireless carrier...

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Twitter announces ‘Blue for Business’ to help identify brands and their employees

“Blue for Business” will let you show who is affiliated with your brand. | Image: Twitter

Twitter has officially announced Blue for Business, a subscription geared toward companies that want to “verify and distinguish themselves on Twitter,” as its press release says. The service will let companies link their main accounts with those of their employees to make it easier to show that someone actually does work for them.

The company is testing the service with “a select group of businesses,” including its own employees. Esther Crawford, director of product management at Twitter, has a little bird badge next to her blue checkmark that verifies her as an employee at the company, as you can see in this tweet of her announcing Blue for Business. Craft Ventures, a venture capital firm, also appears to have some employees marked as...

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The Verge’s 2022 gaming holiday gift guide

Photography by Joel Goldberg for The Verge

An expertly crafted collection of all of our favorite games and accessories for the special gamer in your life.

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Tumblr is launching a livestreaming feature

Illustration: The Verge

Tumblr is adding support for livestreaming via the video platform Livebox. The feature is being rolled out to US users on iOS and Android now, and a release for global users and the desktop site is planned for the future. More details are outlined in a blog post, which dubs the service Tumblr Live.

Tumblr has supported streaming in the past, but it did so by letting people share streams from other services like YouNow and YouTube. The new option is described as a native Tumblr streaming service powered by Livebox. (Livebox is operated by the Meet Group, a subsidiary of the dating app company ParshipMeet Group.) Livebox allows users to tip streamers, and by the same token, Tumblr will let you pay creators in a virtual currency called...

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YouTube’s testing out Courses, multiple audio tracks, and easier search

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google has announced that it’s working on a way to make it easier to search through YouTube videos as well as the ability to create educational courses and have multiple audio tracks that make it easy to present content in several different languages (via Android Police). The company is currently testing out some of the features, so they’re not necessarily fully available to everyone yet.

The company says that it’s “piloting” a feature that would let you search in a video from its Search app. If you Google something and end up with video results, you’ll be able to tap a “search in video” button that will let you type in a phrase to see if it shows up in the audio transcript, which is often auto-generated by YouTube. If it is, you’ll be...

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The best magnetic chargers to buy for your MagSafe iPhone

The Verge

Making sense of Apple’s messy MagSafe charging ecosystem, where the first-party options are far from the best ones.

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Give yourself the gift of using a package tracker

Parcel gives you an overview of where all your packages are and can notify you when they’re moving. | Image: Parcel

My inbox is always awash with different shipping notifications, especially this time of year, as I’ve got gifts in transit to family members all across the country. “See what packages are coming your way,” sing FedEx, UPS, and the USPS’s Informed Delivery digests. “Here’s the latest on that thing you ordered,” say a billion online stores. The cacophony doesn’t bother me, though. I know I can safely ignore almost all of those emails because an app called Parcel is already keeping me up to date on everything that they’re trying to tell me.

While I’m about to heap a lot of praise on this specific app, it’s worth noting that it’s far from the only package tracking app around (I’ve heard a lot of praise for Shopify’s Shop, which also benefits...

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Read what Anker’s customer support is telling worried Eufy camera owners

Image: Eufy

At this point, there’s zero chance I would buy a Eufy security camera for my own home. But if you already own some or if you’re on the fence, you might want to hear what the company has to say for itself.

While Eufy just nerfed its privacy promises rather than answering our questions about how we were able to play live footage from an end-to-end encrypted camera through VLC Media Player, the company’s customer support team does have a prepared statement, even if its PR department does not.

Unfortunately, only a tiny portion of the statement addresses that particular issue — but it does seem to tacitly admit Anker did not properly secure its Eufy web portal. And while it does also hint at some sort of fix, it’s not clear we’ll be...

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The Overwatch League World Cup is back

Photo: Carlton Beener / Blizzard Entertainment

After a three-year hiatus, the Overwatch World Cup is back. The event was announced over the weekend, possibly in a cute nod to the dramatic FIFA World Cup nail-biter final and to coincide with a special Overwatch League veterans competition (which you should watch if you want to see how the GOATs of Goats played in addition to feeling the emotions names like Runner, Bumper, Ryujehong, and Esca will evoke in fans of the Apex Tournament days).

The road to crowning the 2023 Overwatch World Cup Champion kicks off next month And it’s gonna be a wild ride

Get the full rundown : https://t.co/eKcSF0LggD pic.twitter.com/qFFxJpB2eD

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 17, 2022

Starting in January with the announcement of the 36...

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Binance.US announces deal to acquire assets of bankrupt crypto firm Voyager

Nick Barclay / The Verge

Binance.US has entered an agreement to acquire the assets of the insolvent cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager, as earlier reported by CNBC. In a press release on Binance.US’s site, the California-based company says the move should free up customer funds that have been locked up in the bankrupt Voyager Digital.

Binance.US, which is led by CEO Brian Shroder, is only available to users in the US and remains a separate entity from the international trading platform Binance, owned by Changpeng (CZ) Zhao.

Voyager says the Binance.US bid is worth just over $1 billion, which is an estimate of the value of Voyager’s crypto profile plus an additional $20 million in consideration. As part of the agreement, Binance.US will make a $10 million deposit...

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Seventeen Amazon Echo devices are now compatible with Matter

Amazon’s latest smart speaker, the fifth-gen Echo Dot with Clock, now supports Matter. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Seventeen Amazon Echo devices now support Matter’s interoperable smart home standard after Amazon completed the first phase of its promised Matter rollout today, the company announced. These include smart speakers newer than the third-gen Echo Dot and Echo, as well as smart displays ranging from the second-gen Echo Show 8 to the large, wall-mounted Echo Show 15.

However, this rollout is limited only to those with Android phones and smart plugs, smart bulbs, and smart switches. They’re also only able to connect to your home network over Wi-Fi, although both Thread and iOS support should be available next year. Other products, including the full Eero device lineup, will also be compatible with Matter in 2023.

The move comes just a few...

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Creators say shopping app Nate ran off with their promised earnings and rewards

Image: Nate

After months of earning online shopping credits through the Nate app, Libby Rasmussen had over $500 left on her account going into December. She planned to use her remaining money on Christmas gifts for her family — until the credits abruptly disappeared from her account earlier this month.

Rasmussen, who works in social media marketing and sells home decor products like disco balls, has used the Nate app since October to curate lists of products for followers. The app, launched in 2018, completes the checkout process for shoppers and also allows influencers to share products in exchange for a commission when fans make purchases.

Rasmussen says she quickly saw the benefits of using Nate over other marketing tools. In addition to earning...

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Tesla is reportedly planning a $10 billion Gigafactory in Mexico

A Model Y assembly line at a Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. | Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge

Tesla is planning to build a new Gigafactory in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, according to Reuters, which cited a story in the Mexican newspaper Reforma. The automaker may announce the new factory with an initial $800 million to $1 billion investment as early as Friday, local newspaper Reforma reports.

The factory will cost Tesla as much as $10 billion after completion, including future expansions, according to the newspaper’s source. It could be Tesla’s most expensive Gigafactory yet. By comparison, the company’s Gigafactory in Berlin cost about $5.5 billion.

It could be Tesla’s most expensive Gigafactory yet

If the new project moves forward, it will be located just outside the city of Monterrey and will initially be used to build...

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Amazon Robotics sued for $280 million by supplier left holding the bag(s)

Image: Amazon

On December 13th, Amazon’s robotics division was hit with a lawsuit seeking $280 million in damages from Gilimex Inc., a Vietnamese company responsible for manufacturing the steel and fabric storage containers that hold items as they’re moved around the company’s warehouses.

The supplier says Amazon rushed it to ramp up production early in the pandemic, assuring the smaller company it would be notified if things change. However, last spring, Amazon’s need for these parts abruptly dropped as it sharply reduced projections. After that, Gilimex claims Amazon didn’t compensate Gilimex for raw materials that were purchased in advance or provide any advance warning to ramp down its production, only offering to buy a small fraction of the...

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Ahsoka, Loki season 2, and Secret Invasion are all part of Disney Plus’ teaser for 2023

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano in Disney Plus’ Ahsoka. | Disney Plus

Disney Plus subscribers probably still have a back catalog of shows and movies from 2022 to watch. That said, the streamer’s already gearing up to hit the ground running in the new year with a bevy of returning series like The Mandalorian and Loki and a few new ones like Ahsoka and Secret Invasion.

Though it doesn’t reveal all that much about any of the new series debuting next year, Disney Plus’ new teaser trailer for all of its forthcoming shows does make clear that the House of Mouse is sticking to its guns in 2023 by offering up even more live-action Marvel and Star Warsfare. Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and Grogu are both (obviously) returning for The Mandalorian’s third installment that’s slated to spotlight the return of Katee...

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Nearly every country on Earth just agreed to protect 30 percent of the planet

A plenary meeting during the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Quebec, on December 19th, 2022. | Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images

More than 190 countries agreed to protect 30 percent of Earth’s lands and waters by the end of the decade at the UN Biodiversity Conference. The historic deal was struck before sunrise today following nearly two weeks of negotiations in Montreal.

Each country adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which commits them to achieving over 20 environmental targets by 2030. Altogether, the framework is supposed to stop human beings from driving species to extinction, preserve the planet’s genetic diversity, and ensure that the benefits of that biodiversity are used sustainably and equitably.

One of the biggest and most controversial parts of the deal is the provision to “protect” at least 30 percent of land, inland water,...

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Sony’s DualSense controller for PS5 and PC is up to $25 off in all colors

Sony’s DualSense controllers come in seven color options, and they’re all on sale. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

Attention, fellow deal hunters and cheapskates: it’s the Monday before Christmas, so if you still have gifts to buy, you’d best hurry. Let us help you do that without overspending. Starting things off, Sony’s DualSense controller for the PlayStation 5 and PC is once again on sale for around $49.99 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. The best part of this deal, aside from the fact that you’re getting up to $25 off, is that every color of the DualSense is discounted.

You can choose from the stock white, midnight black, cosmic red, galactic purple, nova pink, starlight blue, and even the most recent gray camouflage. Whether you’re going for a controller in a hue that vividly stands out or one that tactically blends in, you get all the...

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Tesla accused of illegally firing two employees after they criticized Elon Musk

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Two former Tesla employees are saying they were illegally fired from the company after taking part in an organized effort to publicly criticize Elon Musk, according to Bloomberg.

The two employees, both of whom are based in California, have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. The firings may have violated federal law protecting employee speech related to working conditions.

The employees say they were involved in drafting two letters, one of which asked Tesla to reconsider its return-to-the-office policies and the other highlighting a tweet by Musk that they argue violates the company’s anti-harassment policies. The draft letters were never sent to Tesla executives, according to Bloomberg.

“Tesla’s failure to...

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Supreme Court will hear Section 230 challenges in February

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for two major internet moderation cases in February of 2023. As noted by Bloomberg reporter Greg Stohr, hearings for Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh have been respectively scheduled for February 21st and February 22nd, respectively.

The two cases could result in a fundamental change to how platforms can recommend content, particularly material produced by terrorist organizations. Both stem from lawsuits claiming that YouTube, Twitter, and other platforms provided support for Islamic State attacks by failing to remove — and, in some cases, recommending — accounts and posts by terrorists. Gonzalez v. Google’s plaintiffs claim these recommendations shouldn’t be covered by Section 230 of...

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Ubisoft has started transferring games from Google Stadia to PC

Ubisoft games originally purchased on Google Stadia have started to appear on users’ Ubisoft Connect accounts. | Image: Ubisoft

Ubisoft has started handing out PC versions of games originally purchased on Google Stadia in preparation for Stadia’s shutdown on January 18th, 2023.

Ubisoft previously announced back in September that any Ubisoft titles purchased on the cloud gaming platform would be eligible to transfer over to PC, promising to share “specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.” 9to5Google now reports that this migration process quietly started on Friday, December 16th.

Games that support cloud cross-save may have saved game data ported over to a user’s Ubisoft Connect account

Users have seen the game licenses transfer automatically to PC via Ubisoft Connect (as opposed to individual game codes being manually...

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Epic Games reaches $520 million FTC settlement over Fortnite privacy violations, unintended purchases

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Epic Games and the Federal Trade Commission reached a $520 million settlement over claims the Fortnite developer broke online privacy protection laws for kids and tricked players into buying in-game items (via The Wall Street Journal). The settlement includes a record $275 million penalty to settle alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and $245 million over a purchasing setup that could trick players and allow them to buy things by accident.

Fortnite made over $9 billion during its first two years in existence.

In its complaint, the FTC alleges Epic collected personal information from Fortnite players under the age of 13 without their parent’s knowledge or consent. The agency also claims Epic harmed...

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