Cake’s first e-bike can go over 200 miles before needing a charge

Image: Cake

Cake, the Swedish maker of deliciously designed electric motorbikes, finally has an e-bike with actual pedals, not pegs. The Cake Äik comes in two street-legal variants: In the US, it ships with a throttle and mid-drive 500W motor (with a 1000W peak) with a 20mph (32km/h) top speed, while in Europe it’s pedal-assist only and you’re stuck with a 250W motor (500W peak) capable of just 16mph (25km/h) max.

Like the Cake Ösa electric moped I reviewed last summer, Åik is positioned less for commuters, and more as a utility bike for people that rely upon two-wheeled transport for their livelihoods or rugged outdoor fun.

Image: Cake

Mount a fridge on the back and power it off one of your three 750kWh batteries.

The...

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Google is making it easy to take music with you on Android 13

Android 13 will soon support “uninterrupted listening” between multiple devices. | Image: Google / The Verge

Google is introducing new features for Android 13 that should make it easier for users to transition between different audio devices when listening to music. Announced at CES 2023, media notifications will ask users if they want to switch over to a different listening device based on their proximity, allowing you to seamlessly transition between your phone, speakers, headphones, TV, car, and more.

This feature uses the cross-device software development kit (SDK) released by Google last year. The tech uses Bluetooth Low Energy, Wi-Fi, and ultra-wideband to detect which audio devices are physically near the user, and then identifies which device a user may want to use based on their current activity — for example, switching audio playback...

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More than 200 million Twitter users’ email addresses leaked by hackers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Usernames and email addresses belonging to more than 200 million Twitter users have been posted online by hackers.

According to reports from security researchers and media outlets including BleepingComputer, the credentials were compiled from a number of earlier Twitter breaches dating back to 2021. Although the database does not include users’ passwords, it nevertheless represents a security threat to those affected.

“This is one of the most significant leaks I’ve seen,” Alon Gal, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, said in a post describing the hack onLinkedIn. “[It] will unfortunately lead to a lot of hacking, targeted phishing, and doxxing.”

Estimates of the exact number of users affected by the breach vary, in...

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Lenovo’s dual-screen laptop is remarkable

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

I will admit that I was skeptical when I first saw pictures of Lenovo’s new dual-screen Yoga Book 9i. I’ve tried foldables and dual-screens aplenty, and while many are usable, many also have serious limitations. But this is the first dual-screen laptop I’ve ever tried that I could see myself actually buying. And that’s because Lenovo has clearly done the software engineering necessary to make sure it can address many of the somewhat... obvious concerns that shoppers might have with such a device.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

This butterfly flaps its wings when you open and close the laptop, by the way.

The first objection is an obvious one: there’s no visible touchpad on the Yoga Book i9. That’s what first...

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Friday’s top tech news: let’s give it up for the laptops of CES

Image: Razer

Including massive 18-inch screens, two screens, and E Ink displays.

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Tesla finally offers alternative to the steering yoke

Good news for folks who dislike the yoke-only steering wheel on the Tesla Model S and Model X — you can now configure the vehicles with a round wheel option again. | Image: tesla

Tesla has re-introduced a round steering wheel option for its Model S and Model X vehicles, following two years of criticism regarding the practicality and safety of the racing-style yoke steering. As noted by Electrek, the Tesla online configurator for the Model S/X was updated on Thursday, adding the option for a round steering wheel alongside the existing yoke. Selecting the rounded wheel option doesn’t impact the price or the estimated delivery timeline. Other Tesla models such as the Model 3 and Model Y are already available with a round steering wheel.

A controversial redesign for both the Model S and Model X in 2021 ditched the traditional steering wheel (and control stalks) in favor of a singular yoke option with capacitive...

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Samsung says profits dropped by two thirds as global slowdown bites

Image: Getty

Samsung has just released its earnings guidance for the three months ending December 31st 2022, and they don’t contain great news for the South Korean tech giant. The figures suggest Samsung may have just had its least profitable quarter in eight years, Reuters notes, as the global economic slowdown hits the company’s core chip making and consumer tech businesses.

Operating profit is estimated to have fallen by over two thirds compared to the same period the previous year, down from 13.87 trillion Korean won (around $10.9 billion) to 4.3 trillion Korean won (around $3.4 billion). Sales were down by a smaller 9 percent to 70 trillion Korean won (around $55.1 billion).

Competitor LG’s profits are also down

Multiple areas of Samsung’s...

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Razer Blade 16 hands-on: a dream gaming laptop

Wait until you see the screen.

Razer has given us a first look at the Razer Blade 16 and Razer Blade 18, which will be released in the next few months. And I will say right now: I am impressed.

The Blade 18 is the biggest and most powerful Razer Blade that has ever been released, which is neat in itself. But I’m actually even more excited about the Blade 16, which is debuting some never-before-seen on a Razer Blade.

That’s some COLOR.

First, there’s a Mini LED screen. And it looks great. On the screen, some shades looked blindingly bright against black backdrops, where they might’ve looked washed out on other gaming displays. Black areas, speaking of, looked gorgeously black.

Next to the Blade 16 model in its demo area, Razer actually had a...

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Snap’s shutting down the app that put cool filters on your Zoom calls

When you open the app, it shows an announcement saying it’ll no longer be available.

On January 25th, Snap will be shutting down its camera app for Mac and PCs. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you may remember it as the program that let you apply silly filters to your face while you were on Zoom or other video conference calls. It’s also, as Verge alum Billy Disney pointed out on Mastodon, the reason a boss accidentally showed up to a work meeting as a potato in 2020:

my boss turned herself into a potato on our Microsoft teams meeting and can’t figure out how to turn the setting off, so she was just stuck like this the entire meeting pic.twitter.com/uHLgJUOsXk

— clegg (@PettyClegg) March 30, 2020

Snap announced the change on its support page for Snap Camera, saying that it’ll “no longer be available to use or...

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The Qi2 wireless charging standard will mandate magnet strength for less slip ‘n slide

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

I couldn’t justify keeping Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack because it didn’t stay firmly stuck to my phone without swiveling, and I’ve seen third-party attachments that are much, much worse. Thankfully, the next version of the Qi wireless charging standard, Qi2, will mandate magnet strength, size, and dimensions in addition to its electrical properties — even though that’s the opposite of what I reported yesterday.

(The bigger news about Qi2: it should mean that future Android phones and Apple phones will be able to use the same wireless magnetic charger, effectively MagSafe for Android.)

“Magnet strength testing” is anticipated

Today, I got an email from WPC spokesperson Paul Golden apologizing for passing along incorrect information...

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Google Maps’ turn-by-turn navigation on Wear OS now works without a phone

If your Wear OS watch has a cellular connection, you can get turn-by-turn directions. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google Maps on Wear OS is getting a big navigation upgrade. On Thursday, Google announced that you can now get turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps on internet-connected Wear OS watches without a smartphone (via Droid Life). That means if you’re out and about with a cellular-connected watch (like, say, the cellular-enabled Pixel Watch) with an active LTE plan or your watch is connected via Wi-Fi, you can get directions right on your wrist even if you don’t have your phone.

Wear OS fans have been waiting a little while for this update; Google and Samsung had said in August that phone-less Google Maps navigation for Wear OS watches was on the way. At the time, Samsung said the feature was “coming soon,” according to 9to5Google — turns...

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OLED plus E Ink: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Twist is halfway to my dream laptop

Image: Lenovo

Last month, I spent 15 whole minutes hunched over an HP Spectre x360 in a drafty Best Buy store — agonizing over whether its amazing OLED screen would destroy the laptop’s battery life and repeatedly googling for the answer. When I found out the answer was “yes, substantially less battery,” I had to walk away.

But why should I have to choose between a great screen and one I use all day? Why not both? That’s the idea behind the ThinkBook Plus Twist, a new laptop that Lenovo’s announcing at CES 2023.

Not only does it have a 13.3-inch, 400-nit, 60Hz 2.8K OLED touchscreen that covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, you can swivel its screen around to reveal another 12-inch, color E Ink touchscreen around back — one that refreshes 12...

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Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s done killing shows and movies just for tax write-offs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Just last month, Warner Bros. Discovery followed up on its decision to cancel Westworldby full-on yanking the show from HBO Max — a drastic, money-saving decision that was yet another part of CEO David Zaslav’s grand plan to get the company back in the black. Now, though, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says the entertainment conglomerate is getting ready to shift gears and put more of its energies into creating new things rather than tearing apart what already exists.

Speaking at Citibank’s annual Communications, Media & Entertainment Conference today, Wiedenfels was adamant about 2023 being a year of “relaunching and building,” Variety reports. Wiedenfels said that Warner Bros. Discovery felt the need to take “a little...

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Here are the best Amazon Echo deals right now

Like Amazon’s Echo speakers, its various smart displays come in a range of sizes. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Amazon’s current Echo lineup offers a broad selection of smart speakers and displays that can fit just about anywhere in your home. Whether you want to place a voice assistant in your living room, replace the bulletin board in your office, or pick up a touchscreen-enabled device to showcase recipes in the kitchen, there's an Echo device for just about every occasion and use case.

Regardless of why you might want one, there’s also always a way to save on Echo devices, from the last-gen Dot to the wall-mounted Echo Show 15. Even when they’re selling at full price, for instance, Amazon offers a 25 percent discount when you trade in select devices, meaning there are still other ways to save money when none of the models are on sale.

Below,...

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Overwatch 2’s Battle For Olympus event is a step in the right direction

Image: Blizzard

When Blizzard teased the arrival of Overwatch 2’s Battle For Olympus event, I had hopes I would have another game mode like Junkenstein’s Revenge to sink my teeth into. The limited-time event / game mode is now live, and while it’s not quite what I was hoping for, I’m still encouraged that Overwatch 2 is finally on the right track with its content releases.

Basically, Battle For Olympus is simply Overwatch 2’s Deathmatch mode with a very pretty coat of Olympian paint. Once again, the Overwatch 2 art team has killed it with these skin designs. Medusa Widowmaker is *chef’s kiss*. Players can choose from a handful of heroes, each with their own Olympian god theme, and battle it out with some major tweaks to heroes’ abilities.

All the...

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Ram 1500 Revolution brings muscle car energy — and tons of gimmicks — to EV truck race

Image: Stellantis

Ram’s late to the game with an EV truck, but this ‘open letter to the fanbase’ packs a ton of wild features. It even follows you around.

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The storms battering California won’t make a big dent in its drought

The Golden Gate Bridge is seen through heavy rain on January 4th, 2023, in Sausalito, California. | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A deluge of storms is dumping serious amounts of rain across notoriously dry California. Even so, this week’s downpours are still nowhere near enough to pull the state out of its intense years-long drought.

A bomb cyclone is working its way across the state today, flooding homes and roads and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of residents. Officials warned it could be the worst storm to crash into California in years — even though it’s just one in a series of storms to pass through in the span of a couple weeks.

It all comes on the heels of a long dry stretch for the Golden State. 2022 marked the end of the driest three-year period for the state on record. But in a dramatic shift, California rang in 2023with wet weather —...

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EcoFlow’s battery-backup kits for the home can reduce your energy bill

This EcoFlow Smart Control Kit consists of a Smart Home Panel and two Delta Pros for up to 7200W of output. | Image: EcoFlow

EcoFlow is now selling Whole-Home Backup Power Solutions that bundle together a variety of the company’s products that are already available a la carte. The kits are basically a more scalable version of Tesla’s Powerwall+ without the long installation wait times, that also remains portable so you can take some of that idle power with you for an off-grid getaway.

The new EcoFlow kits make it easy to choose the right amount of backup power for your needs and budget. Prices start at $3,699 and approach $20,000 if you want unlimited emergency power. That’s a lot of money (even after a US tax credit) compared to noisy gas generators, but EcoFlow’s emission-free kits don't require maintenance and could also help reduce your day-to-day energy...

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EcoFlow has three new gadgets for luxury off-grid living

From left to right: The EcoFlow Wave 2, Blade, and Glacier. | Image: EcoFlow

EcoFlow announced three new devices today — a refrigerator / ice maker, an air conditioner / heater, and a robotic lawnmower / leaf collector — as part of its burgeoning ecosystem of portable, battery-powered solutions for residential homes, off-grid cabins, and RVs. They join the company’s new whole-home battery backup kits, also announced at the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The EcoFlow Glacier makes me feel seen as a budding vanlifer and cocktail enthusiast. The battery-powered portable fridge, freezer, and ice cube maker has a removable 297Wh battery that can power the device for up to 24 hours on a single charge and be topped up directly using solar panels, which EcoFlow will be happy to supply. It can produce exactly...

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Find the best AI-powered app to transcribe your audio

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

Whenever a popular online app announces a change to its fees, or in the services it provides for those fees, you’re going to get a reaction from its subscribers — especially the long-term ones. One app that caused this type of dismay was Otter, a recording and transcription service that, in August 2022, announced downgrades of the services it provides on two of its plans and raised the price on the monthly plan.

When a service you’ve used for a while makes radical changes in its prices and feature set, a natural reaction is to start shopping around to see if there are any viable alternatives.

There are two types of transcription services available online today: one that uses an AI engine and the other that uses human transcribers. The...

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How do you sell over-the-counter hearing aids when nobody knows who you are?

The Eargo 7 are FDA-cleared self-fitting OTC hearing aids that can now be bought at 1,500 Victra Verizon dealerships. | Image: Eargo

2023 is going to be a big year for hearables. While the concept isn’t new, this is the first CES since the FDA established a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. OTC hearing aids began hitting shelves in mid-October, and they’re on the show floor in Vegas right now. But the best hearables are from brands you’ve likely never heard of.

Take the Eargo 7.

If you’re familiar with hearables, you’re probably not surprised to see Eargo with an FDA-cleared OTC self-fitting hearing aid at CES. The company has been a CES regular since 2015, and technologically speaking, its seventh-gen device isn’t so much a novel never-before-seen gadget as it is a refinement. (The Eargo 7 is technically...

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The FTC wants to ban the noncompete clauses ensnaring some tech workers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission is looking to ban noncompete clauses in employment contracts, which companies put in place to prevent employees from going to work for competitors or leaving to start similar businesses. On Thursday, the regulator issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, saying that the clauses hurt innovation and “decrease competition for workers,” which leads to lower wages overall.

While the proposed rule, which you can read here, would benefit workers across industries, it’s especially relevant in tech.

For years, we’ve seen big tech companies attempt to get workers at every level to sign noncompete contracts — Kickstarter’s union fought against them while it was bargaining with the company, Acer sued a former CEO...

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Peloton fined $19 million for dropping the ball on Tread Plus safety issues

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Peloton is starting off 2023 with a $19 million fine. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the company has agreed to pay the civil penalty to settle charges that the company knowingly failed to immediately report safety issues with its recalled Tread Plus. The fine will also resolve charges that Peloton continued to sell 38 Tread Plus units after the recall in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act.

As a refresher, Peloton recalled both of its treadmills — the Tread and Tread Plus — in 2021. While the Tread’s issue was a wobbly screen, the more premium Tread Plus caused multiple reports of injuries and, in one instance, the death of a small child. Because of the Tread Plus’ slatted belt and raised deck,...

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Qualcomm’s going toe-to-toe with Apple’s satellite messaging feature

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Android phones will soon be getting a feature similar to — and perhaps even more powerful than — Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite. Qualcomm has announced that its new processors and modems will allow phones to communicate with the Iridium satellite network, letting users send and receive messages even in areas without cell coverage.

The feature, called Snapdragon Satellite, will be available in phones that have both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and its X70 Modem system, along with some additional radios. Phones that support it should be “launched in select regions starting in the second half of 2023,” according to the company’s press release, and there are several manufacturers working on designs, according to Francesco...

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Delta and T-Mobile are making in-flight Wi-Fi free for all SkyMiles members

Air travel is still a hellscape, but at least the Wi-Fi will be free. | Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images

After hinting that it would be coming in 2023, Delta has confirmed that all SkyMiles members will get free in-flight Wi-Fi as part of a partnership with T-Mobile. The wireless carrier already offers free Wi-Fi on Delta flights to its subscribers, but starting on February 1st, that program will expand to any SkyMiles member, regardless of whether they’re a T-Mobile customer. But — as it so often does — this free service comes with a side of targeted advertising.

Not every flight will include free Wi-Fi at first; Delta is starting domestic. According to today’s news release, “most” mainline domestic flights will be included at launch, and by the end of 2023, the service should be available on more than 700 planes. The company plans to add...

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Razer made a soundbar that tracks your head to optimize sound

Razer claims the Leviathan V2 Pro can envelop a user with “3D audio” thanks to a built-in IR camera that allows it to optimize audio based on the users location. | Image: Razer

Soundbars might not be the audio system of choice for most desktop setups, but Razer is trying is offering a new one for people who don’t want to mess with headsets or finicky surround sound systems. The popular gaming tech company just announced the Leviathan V2 Pro at CES 2023, the latest addition to its existing range of soundbars designed to provide compact, low-profile audio for PC gamers.

Created in partnership with THX and Audioscenic, Razer claims that the Leviathan V2 Pro can envelop a user with “3D audio” by combining beamforming surround sound with head-tracking AI technology. A built-in IR camera can detect the user’s position, allowing the soundbar to optimize sound by adapting the audio beams to the listener’s position in...

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Razer’s Edge 5G handheld is coming to Verizon this month for $359.99

The 5G version is coming very soon at a not-outlandish price. | Image: Razer

Razer and Verizon co-announced the pricing for the 5G-enabled Edge gaming handheld during CES 2023. It’s launching on January 26th for $359.99 when you add it as a new tablet line to your account. With an installment plan, Verizon says the math works out to $10 per month for 36 months. This pricing is available for a limited time, but a timeframe wasn’t provided by Verizon, so we’ve followed up to find out. The retail price for the 5G model is $599.99, which is $200 more than the Wi-Fi-only model.

We first heard about the Edge (Razer’s revival of the awkward 2013 tablet-handheld hybrid) in October 2022. It has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with a fast 144Hz refresh rate, and it sits snugly in between the Kishi V2 Pro, a modified version of the...

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Google’s new split-screen look for Android Auto is rolling out to everyone

The new split-screen Android Auto UI. | Image: Google

The Android Auto look and feel has evolved greatly since we reviewed it in 2015, but now its biggest update is starting to roll out to all users, introducing a split-screen UI that can let you see more things at once. Keeping the map on screen while also adding one or two other panes makes it a bit more like Apple’s current approach to CarPlay, and Google says its focus is on creating a “more personal, easy-to-use experience from behind the wheel.”

Wherever the inspiration comes from, I appreciate it. Dubbed “Coolwalk” in testing over the last year or so, the new UI has been publicly available in beta form for several months after it was publicly announced in the spring, and as a longtime Android Auto user, I’ve had it in my car.

While...

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Google’s new high-definition maps are arriving first on Volvo and Polestar electric vehicles

Image: Volvo

Google is rolling out a brand-new high-definition version of Google Maps for cars with the tech giant’s native Android Automotive operation system. The HD maps will provide granular details that were not previously available, like lane markings, road signs, and traffic barriers.

The first vehicles to get the new HD maps will be the Volvo EX90, the Swedish automaker’s new flagship electric vehicle due out later this year, and the Polestar 3, the Volvo-backed performance marque’s first SUV. The Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 will share the same platform, Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA2), and both use Android Automotive, which is Google’s native in-car operating system.

Image: Polestar

Both Volvo and Polestar...

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Razer says its Kiyo Pro Ultra webcam can capture uncompressed 4K footage

The Kiyo Pro Ultra’s shutter can be closed by twisting it, which is something the previous model couldn’t do. | Image: Razer

Razer’s new 4K webcam, the $299.99 Kiyo Pro Ultra, is available starting today from Razer’s site and at its retail stores. Razer promises DSLR-like video quality with its 1/1.2-inch Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which it claims is the largest ever in a webcam. This webcam offers an f/1.7 aperture that should allow for natural-looking bokeh and hopefully solid low-light performance, too.

Like many webcams these days, the Kiyo Pro Ultra was made to tempt creators away from buying a pricey DSLR camera. The Pro Ultra even looks like a DSLR lens, a design it shares with 2021’s Kiyo Pro, a promising but slightly underwhelming 1080p 60fps webcam. It’s kind of hard to distinguish from that older model, though Razer gave the Pro Ultra a twist-to-close...

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