Gran Turismo 7 VR hands-on: it might make you a PSVR 2 believer

Today, Sony is officially launching its PlayStation VR2 headset. It costs $550, and you can read our PSVR 2 review right here. But there are a few key experiences that Sony didn’t distribute to reviewers ahead of time — likea day-one patch for Gran Turismo 7that makes almost the entire racing game playable in virtual reality.

I’m beginning to think that was a mistake, because GT7 is easily one of the best things I’ve tried in this headset, and I’m saying that having never played GT7 before. I’m certain a number of gearheads will buy a PlayStation VR2 for this game alone — and quite possibly a PS5, a steering wheel, and a set of pedals to go with it.

The game starts exactly the way it does on a flat screen TV. You adjust your screen...

Continue reading…

External display size could be the next battleground for foldable flip phones

This could be Motorola’s next Razr. | Image: Evan Blass

Upcoming foldable flip phones from Samsung and Motorola could have much larger cover displays than the current generation, if a series of leaks about the unannounced devices are to be believed.

First there’s the Galaxy Z Flip 5, which Samsung is anticipated to announce this summer. Leaker Ice Universe, who’s been a reliable source of information on unannounced Samsung devices in the past, recently tweeted to “say for sure” that Samsung’s next flip phone will have a bigger external display than the Oppo Find N2 Flip. For reference, Oppo’s flip phone has a 3.26-inch cover display, which is already substantially larger than the Z Flip 4’s 1.9-inch display.

The clues have surfaced.
The first leak
I can say for sure The external screen of...

Continue reading…

Elon Musk keeps laying off Twitter employees after saying cuts were done

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images

On November 21st, Elon Musk gathered Twitter’s remaining employees at its San Francisco headquarters to tell them that, after forcing out roughly two-thirds of the workforce in a matter of weeks, layoffs were over. He keeps laying people off anyway.

Dozens of Twitter employees across sales and engineering departments were laid off last week, including one of Musk’s direct reports who was managing engineering for Twitter’s ads business, according to company sources and social media posts from affected employees seen by The Verge. This means Musk has done at least three rounds of layoffs since his promise to stop doing them in November. Meanwhile, he has given a directive internally to revamp how ads are targeted in Twitter’s main feed...

Continue reading…

The Supreme Court is deciding the future of the internet, and it acted like it

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

“We’re a court. We really don’t know about these things. These are not the nine greatest experts on the internet.”

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan made the wryly self-deprecating comment early in oral arguments for Gonzalez v. Google, a potential landmark case covering Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The remark was a nod to many people’s worst fears about the case. Gonzalez could unwind core legal protections for the internet, and it will be decided by a court that’s shown an appetite for overturning legal precedent and reexamining long-standing speech law.

But during a remarkably entertaining session of questions today, the court took an unexpectedly measured look at Section 230. The outcome in Gonzalez is far...

Continue reading…

Sonos quietly raises Beam and Sub prices by $50

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

As it nears the launch of two new smart speakers, Sonos appears to be taking another look at pricing across the company’s product portfolio — and raising them in some cases. The second-generation Beam, which was $449 just a week ago, is now shown as $499 on Sonos’ website and retailers, including Best Buy.

The already-pricey Sub has also been bumped by $50 and now costs $799. Ouch. The Wayback Machine shows that it was still listed at $749 from Sonos as recently as February 15th.

Sonos increased the prices of numerous products back in 2021, citing supply chain issues and consumer demand as factors behind the decision. At that time, the company said it is “always assessing market dynamics including demand, supply chain, component costs,...

Continue reading…

Here are the best Apple Watch deals right now

The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t a massive step up from the prior model, but it does offer a few new features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In September, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the first-ever Ultra ($799) alongside the Series 8 ($399) and a new Apple Watch SE ($249). Each wearable has its own pros and cons associated with it, but the introduction of the high-end Ultra also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market before than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had.

But with all of those options, which one should you pick? Generally speaking, you want to buy the newest watch you can afford so that it continues to receive software updates from Apple. The latest update, watchOS 9, launched on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer models in September, though no one can say with certainty whether the Series 4 will get the...

Continue reading…

When disaster hits, social circles are crucial lifelines

Demonstrators demand action from the Republican presidential candidates about the water crisis in Flint outside the historic Fox Theatre before the GOP presidential debate on March 3rd, 2016, in Detroit, Michigan. | Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In the wake of disaster, maintaining close ties with friends and family is a crucial part of recovery. Those relationships might help keep people safe in the moment and even nurture better mental health long after the initial disaster, according to new research on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, that started in 2014.

Sure, that might seem like common sense. But paying attention to how folks come together when things go horribly wrong is one way to get communities better help in future times of crisis. And it’s not just maintaining a social circle that matters — who’s in it and how close you are to them made a difference in Flint, according to a study recently published in the journal International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

...

Continue reading…

Another podcasting executive is leaving Spotify

Nick Barclay / The Verge

This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.

So much for the holiday weekend — it’s a busy week already! We’ve got another major shake-up at Spotify and a bitter cancellation at WNYC. Plus, Hot Pod Summit is this Thursday! Let’s get into it.

Max Cutler is leaving Spotify

Spotify’s podcasting old guard is dwindling. Just as the dust was beginning to settle on Dawn Ostroff’s departure, Spotify’s podcast vertical takes another hit. Max Cutler, who has been with the company for almost four years and was instrumental in building its podcast business, told staffers on Tuesday that he will be leaving, as well.

Cutler founded horror and true crime podcast studio Parcast before Spotify...

Continue reading…

YouTube Music will let make your own custom radio stations

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is giving YouTube Music users the ability to create custom stations based on specific artists and to tune how the algorithm decides what songs it should play. The feature, which is called the “Radio Builder,” started rolling out on Tuesday and can be accessed by scrolling to the “Your music tuner” section of the YouTube Music homepage in the iOS or Android app.

When building your custom station, you can select up to 30 artists and choose whether you want to only hear music from them or if you want it to pull in songs from similar musicians. You can also tell it to play songs that you’re familiar with, new-to-you songs, or a mix of the two and add filters, letting you tune the mix. For example, you could make a station that plays...

Continue reading…

The classic version of Angry Birds is being delisted from Google Play but renamed on the App Store

Image: Rovio

If you want to get classic Angry Birds from Google Play — the version that costs just a buck and isn’t laden with microtransactions — you’d better get it quick. Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, a rebuilt version of the original mobile hit, will be delisted from Google’s app store on Thursday due to “the game’s impact on our wider games portfolio,” developer Rovio announced on Tuesday. Oddly, the App Store version will still be available, though Rovio’s plan is to change the game’s name to Red’s First Flight.

My guess is that Rovio is delisting this remake of Angry Birds to push people toward its free-to-play games in the series that make money off microtransactions. As a $1 one-time purchase, the Rovio Classics version of the game likely...

Continue reading…

How Microsoft’s Nvidia deal works for gamers — with or without Activision

An artistic representation of GeForce Now cloud gaming. | Image: Nvidia

Microsoft is trying to convince the entire world that it should be allowed to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion — and it just bartered for Nvidia’s support, signing a 10-year contract that gives Nvidia the right to stream Xbox PC games over its GeForce Now cloud gaming subscription service.

What does that mean for gamers like you and me? Well, I just got off the phone with Nvidia GeForce Now VP Phil Eisler, who gave me both a big-picture answer and the shorter-term practical details to go with it.

Big picture, Eisler thinks this deal could finally break the cloud gaming “chicken-and-egg” cycle — providing enough games to attract enough gamers to convince publishers to provide more games, too.

That’s because this deal isn’t just...

Continue reading…

Biden won’t stop a potential ban on importing Apple Watches

The Apple Watch is facing two potential import bans over its EKG and pulse oximetry features. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Medical device maker AliveCor announced today that President Biden has upheld an International Trade Commission ruling that could result in a potential import ban on the Apple Watch over its EKG feature.

“We applaud President Biden for upholding the ITC’s ruling and holding Apple accountable for infringing the patents that underpin our industry-leading EKG technology,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani said in a statement sent to The Verge.

Back in December, the ITC issued a final determination that Apple had infringed on AliveCor’s wearable EKG tech. In the ruling, the ITC recommended a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order for Apple Watch models with EKG features. If enforced, that would mean that Apple would no longer be able...

Continue reading…

The best Fitbits for your fitness and health

Fitbit makes an array of fitness trackers, from basic fitness bands to full-fledged smartwatches, though the best Fitbit smartwatch isn’t technically a Fitbit. | Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge

Whether you want a basic fitness tracker or a smartwatch, there’s a Fitbit for everyone — though the best Fitbit smartwatch isn’t technically a Fitbit.

Continue reading…

Wireless ISP Starry is filing for bankruptcy

Image: Starry

Starry, an ISP that launched in 2016 with a focus on delivering home internet with wireless antennas instead of cables, has declared bankruptcy. In a press release, the company says that it intends to quickly restructure and that it’ll continue providing internet service in its “five core operating markets.” Those are Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, DC.

The ISP has clearly been struggling over the past few months. In October 2022, it announced that it was laying off around 500 people, which amounted to about half of its staff. A few months later, Starry announced it was leaving Columbus, Ohio, in a bid to focus more on its five “core” markets. All the while, it was burning millions of dollars in cash, and its...

Continue reading…

Microsoft recruited Nintendo and Nvidia to help fight Sony over the Activision deal

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is hoping two gaming giants will help get its Activision Blizzard deal across the line with regulators in Europe.

Continue reading…

Microsoft is already undoing some of the limits it placed on Bing AI

Image: The Verge

Microsoft is already loosening restrictions it recently placed on interactions with the Bing AI chatbot and said it’s going to start testing another option that lets users choose the tone of the chat, with options for Precise (shorter, more focused answers), Creative (longer and more chatty), or Balanced for a bit of both.

After repeated reports of strange behavior (like the time it split into multiple personalities and one of them offered us furry porn) and jailbreaks that did things like expose its secret rules, Microsoft set new rules last Friday that limited the number of interactions testers could have and how long they last. The limits cut down testers to five turns per session and a max of 50 per day.

According to Microsoft,...

Continue reading…

Meta is improving Quest hand tracking so you can touch buttons and type on virtual keyboards

I gotta work on my virtual WPM. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Hand tracking on Meta’s Quest VR headsets is about to get better. With the new v50 update, you’ll be able to “touch” things like menu buttons or virtual keyboards with just your hands, meaning it will be easier than before to use your hands for certain functions instead of relying on the Quest controllers or a pinch gesture.

When Meta first rolled out hand tracking to its Quest headsets in late 2019, you had to pinch to “select” something, meaning you’d pinch to scroll through text or to click a button. But the new hand-tracking features will be available as an experimental setting Meta calls “Direct Touch.” “Direct Touch is a major improvement to our hand tracking technology, offering a more intuitive and engaging way to interact with...

Continue reading…

Sony shares details on Gran Turismo 7’s VR mode and 10 new PSVR 2 launch games

Vroom vroom in VR. | Image: Sony

We’re just a day away from the Wednesday launch of Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset, and ahead of its release, the company is sharing details on Gran Turismo 7’s VR mode and on 10 new games that will be available within the device’s “launch window.”

Let’s start first with Gran Turismo 7. As part of the game’s free 1.29 update, which is available now, the entire game except for two-player splitscreen will be supported by PSVR 2. “GT7 takes full advantage of PS VR2’s next-gen features — utilizing specially optimized HDR tone mapping, as well as foveated rendering from the eye-tracking feature (a technology that renders areas of the screen that the player is directly looking at in high definition), and dynamic 3D audio support, players will...

Continue reading…

Microsoft is bringing Xbox PC games to Nvidia’s GeForce Now service

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is bringing its Xbox PC games to Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels today, Microsoft president Brad Smith announced the news as it seeks to convince EU regulators to approve its proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition.

“Microsoft will be bringing its Xbox games that play on PCs to Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service,” said Smith in a press conference attended by The Verge. “We will also bring all of Activision Blizzard’s titles including Call of Duty to GeForce Now.”

Nvidia now supports Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal, according to Smith. The deal comes just hours after Microsoft revealed it had signed a binding 10-year agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty...

Continue reading…

Lectric’s new electric cargo bike could be the perfect e-bike for families on a budget

Image: Lectric

Lectric, maker of low-cost electric bikes, has just revealed its first cargo bike, the Lectric XPedition. And like the rest of the brand’s lineup, the XPedition is extremely attractively priced at $1,399 — or $1,699 for dual battery version — making this one of the cheapest car replacements on the market today.

Lectric touts the XPedition as “the ultimate transportation solution,” and it’s hard to disagree when you look at the specs. With 180mm rear and front hydraulic disc brakes, a rear-hub motor, and a maximum payload capacity of 450lbs, the Phoenix-based company’s first cargo bike appears to check a lot of the right boxes right out of the gate.

Image: Lectric

The single-battery version, with 48 volts and 14 Ah...

Continue reading…

How to turn on Stage Manager on your Mac

Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge

If you constantly find yourself drowning in piles of tabs, apps, and windows while using your Mac computer, Stage Manager might be able to help. Also available on iPads, Stage Manager organizes your apps as thumbnails on the side of the screen and puts whatever you’re working on front and center. You can have a maximum of one window (or one group of windows) open at a time. The idea is that you can work without distractions while still having access to an easy at a glance view of your other software.

When you’ve got Stage Manager open, you can click one of the thumbnails on the side to open that app or group. (This will close the one you already have open.) If you frequently need to use multiple windows at once, you can group them...

Continue reading…

Call of Duty content schedule leaked as part of alleged Activision hack

Image: Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard has allegedly suffered from a hacking attempt that has potentially exposed sensitive employee information as well as content timelines for Call of Duty.

According to a report from TechCrunch, the data was accessed via a phishing attempt on December 4th. A collective of malware and cybersecurity experts known as vx-underground obtained screenshots of the allegedly stolen data that included a Call of Duty content schedule. Another website, Insider Gaming, reportedly confirmed the breach, stating that additional information such as employees’ “full names, emails, phone numbers, salaries, places of work, and more” were also accessed.

In an email to The Verge, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Joe Christinat wrote, “On...

Continue reading…

Ikea’s Sonos-powered Symfonisk picture frame speaker is a screaming deal at $65 off

Day 588 and the other wall art still hasn’t noticed I am a speaker. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Presidents Day is over, but there are some excellent deals still lingering as well as some fresh ones to accompany them. The Ikea Symfonisk picture frame speaker, which can disguise itself as wall art, is one of the most unusual smart speakers on the market, and it’s on sale for its lowest price of $194.99 ($65 off) direct from Ikea. This 16 x 22-inch speaker is part of Ikea’s partnership with Sonos, so it works natively with Sonos’ Wi-Fi-connected ecosystem. It has good sound quality for the money, about on par with the $219 Sonos One, but no Sonos speaker allows you to free up space on your furniture quite like the Symfonisk picture frame.

It may not be everyone’s style, especially if you’re not fond of the cable hanging from it, but...

Continue reading…

Bernie Sanders throws support behind striking YouTube Music workers

Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) threw his support behind striking YouTube Music workers in a letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tuesday, as first reported by the Austin Chronicle.

Sanders’ support comes amid growing tensions between workers on YouTube Music’s Content Operations team and its parent company, Google. The nearly 60 workers are formally employed by Cognizant, a third-party contractor to Google. Last October, they filed for a union election with the 1,300-member Alphabet Workers Union (AWU). But shortly after that request was filed with the National Labor and Relations Board, Cognizant issued a new return-to-office mandate that organizers — and Sanders — argue amounts to an illegal union-busting strategy.

“Our request to...

Continue reading…

Here’s a $599 cockpit to go with your $1,000 Logitech racing wheel

The cockpit comes with a lightweight carbon steel frame and a seat made out of Actifit material. | Image: Logitech

Logitech G’s first racing cockpit costs $599 and is designed to fit its even costlier premium gaming wheels and pedals. The company teamed up with gaming chair maker Playseat to create the Playseat Trophy - Logitech G Edition — a rebadged version of Playseat’s fully adjustable Trophy cockpit.

Its seat is made with the same Actifit material, which is supposed to conform to your body and keep you cool while you’re on the virtual racetrack. You can also make adjustments to the seat hardness, the position of the backrest, the pedal, and the steering plates. The main difference between this cockpit and the one created by Playseat is that it features Logitech branding and a 37-pound dark gray carbon steel frame instead of black.

Experience...

Continue reading…

Building a social media app by yourself is tricky

Image: Allie Sullberg / The Verge

Last year, Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter and promptly brought chaos to the company — laying off three-quarters of the staff and upending many long stable (if not always successful) parts of the business. So Twitter users began looking for a way out. Many migrated, even if only for a few days, to Mastodon, others moved to Instagram or Snap, and a lot of people declared Hive Social their new home.

Hive seemed like a cleaner, better version of Twitter, with an attractive app featuring a familiar interface — only it creaked under the sudden influx of new users. Then, the company announced it would need to shut down its servers for two weeks to fix security issues. The challenges Hive faced were enormous — as they would be...

Continue reading…

Horror movie production firm Blumhouse launches a gaming division

M3gan. | Image: Universal

Over the last two decades, Blumhouse Productions has made a name for itself in the world of horror, working on films like Paranormal Activity, Get Out, and more recently, M3gan. Now, the company is expanding into the world of video games.

The new division is simply called Blumhouse Games, and it will be focused on “original, horror-themed games for console, PC, and mobile audiences,” the company says. Essentially, Blumhouse will be acting as a publisher of sorts, working with indie developers on projects with budgets “below $10 million.”

“There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space”

“There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space, and I’m thrilled about teaming up with Blumhouse to...

Continue reading…

The sporty Beats Fit Pro earbuds now come in three new colors

The new colors will be released on February 23rd. | Image: Beats

The Beats Fit Pro are our favorite earbuds for exercise, and today, the company is adding three new color options to pick from. As leaked a few weeks ago, the latest choices include blue, coral pink, and neon yellow. All three will be available later this week on February 23rd for $199.99.

When they were originally released, I preferred the Beats Fit Pros over the first-generation AirPods Pros for a couple of reasons. They sounded better, and the flexible wing tips helped them stay put even during vigorous workouts. The second part remains true, but I think Apple leapfrogged the Fit Pro in audio quality with its second-gen AirPods Pro last year.

Image: Beats

Just imagine if the iPhone came in such bold colors....

Continue reading…

The Supreme Court hears arguments for Gonzalez v. Google, its first big Section 230 case

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Is YouTube legally responsible for recommending terrorist content? The court will hear it out.

Continue reading…

The Supreme Court battle for Section 230 has begun

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The first shots have been fired in a Supreme Court showdown over web platforms, terrorism, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gonzales v. Google — one of two lawsuits that are likely to shape the future of the internet.

Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh are a pair of lawsuits blaming platforms for facilitating Islamic State attacks. The court’s final ruling on these cases will determine web services’ liability for hosting illegal activity, particularly if they promote it with algorithmic recommendations.

The Supreme Court took up both cases in October: one at the request of a family that’s suing Google and the other as a preemptive defense filed by Twitter....

Continue reading…