Microsoft’s next Surface Dock might drop the proprietary connector for USB-C

The rear I/O is similar, but the leaked dock seems to use USB-C to connector a laptop. | Image: eBay

A new leak suggests the next Surface Dock might use Thunderbolt 4 over USB-C to connect to Microsoft’s laptop lineup, rather than the company’s proprietary Surface connector. Windows Central reports that the device is codenamed Bergamo, and says pictures of it have leaked via this eBay listing.

While other accessory manufacturers have embraced USB-C as the single connector of choice, Microsoft still prefers to use its own Surface connector to dock its laptops with external monitors and other accessories. It’s meant that devices like the $259.99 Surface Dock 2 only work with Microsoft’s own gear, an unfortunate limitation given the cost.

Image: eBay

One of the Surface Dock 2’s USB-C ports appears to have been...

Continue reading…

Everybody wants a piece of Miles in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s latest trailer

Miles Morales swinging by to grab a hot dog.

There may come a day when the trailer-based hype around Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)no longer feels warranted, but that day is categorically not today.

Across the Spider-Verge’s new trailer finds Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) doing just fine in his home universe as he balances life between doing fine in school and dealing with friendly neighborhood villains like the Spot (Jason Schwartzman). As always, all Miles’ mother Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez) and father Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) want is for their son to be happy and open up to them. But rather than telling his parents about his double life, whatever Miles is dealing with brings him face to face with his good friend Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) from another...

Continue reading…

Apple has reportedly started a small number of corporate layoffs

The Verge

Apple is reportedly laying off a small number of people from one of its retail teams, according to reports from Bloomberg and Business Insider. It’s currently not clear how many people will be affected, but Bloomberg says the number is “likely very small,” and both outlets say that, internally, the company is pitching it as a way to improve its operations rather than as a cost cutting measure.

Still, until now, Apple’s lack of layoffs has set it apart from many big tech companies that have announced major cuts. Those include:

• Google: 12,000 jobs
• Amazon: 27,000 jobs
• Meta: 21,000 jobs
• Microsoft: 10,000 jobs

Apple’s layoffs seem to be on a massively smaller scale, but it appears it can no longer act as an example of a company that...

Continue reading…

The best deals on MacBooks right now

The 2020 MacBook Air, one of the best laptops you can get, is frequently on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

With multiple configurations and various models to choose from, finding a deal on a Mac equipped with an M-series chip is not all that difficult. It’s sometimes a slightly different story for the MacBook Pros with beefier M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs, but with a little luck, you can score those excellent laptops for as much as $500 off. As for the most recent batch of M2-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, they, too, get their fair share of modest savings with some regularity. And with the recent introduction of M2 Pro and M2 Max 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, it’s probably just a matter of time until you can save some money on those refreshed models, too.

Here, we’ll run through the discounts that are currently available for Apple’s...

Continue reading…

Hulu’s redesigning its unintuitive interface

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Late last week, Hulu started rolling out a redesign for its TV apps, which changes how you navigate through the interface. The previous version (which some people still have) had the search, Home, TV, Movies, News, My Stuff, and Hubs buttons across the top of the screen. Now, those navigational buttons will live on the left.

Hulu’s top-bar design has always stood out from the crowd in a bad way. Even my wife, who isn’t that into tech and doesn’t generally comment on UIs, has complained about it. The problem with the old UI is that, in general, using a streaming app these days involves scrolling up and down through a massive list of content, realizing you don’t want to watch any of it, and then jumping to another section.

Unfortunately,...

Continue reading…

Google Flights’ price guarantee could pay you back if your tickets get cheaper

Illustration: The Verge

Google is testing out a price guarantee program for Google Flights that will pay you money if the price of a flight goes down after you booked it through the service. The feature is currently available as a “pilot program” in the US (get it?) for specific flights, according to a Monday blog post, but it could be a compelling reason to use Google’s tool the next time you’re searching for a flight.

When you’re using Google’s tool, some flights will have a little shield icon with a dollar sign. If you book that particular flight through Google Flights, the company says it’ll “monitor the price every day until departure.” If it drops, you’ll get the difference back.

GIF: Google

It’ll only show up on flights that...

Continue reading…

Which devices work with Matter and what's coming soon

The Verge

All the Matter-compatible devices you can buy now, plus what’s coming soon to the new Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung-backed smart home standard.

Continue reading…

Activision settles with Justice Department for limiting esports players’ salaries

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge

The US Department of Justice is suing Activision Blizzard because of claims the publisher instituted an anti-competitive soft salary cap for players in its Call of Duty and Overwatch esports leagues. The publisher has agreed to settle the suit.

The complaint details what the two leagues called a Competitive Balance Tax. Under the tax, if one of the franchised teams paid its players over a limit imposed by Activision Blizzard, the teams would be fined and have the fee distributed to the other non-offending teams. In theory, the Competitive Balance Tax was to prevent richer, better resourced teams from gobbling up the best talent with high salaries (i.e., what I’d call the “2023 Boston Uprising rule”). But it seems that, in practice, this...

Continue reading…

Spotify shuts down its Clubhouse competitor

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Spotify is shuttering its live audio app Spotify Live, as first reported by Music Ally (via TechCrunch). In a statement to The Verge, company spokesperson Gayle Gaviola Moreau confirmed that Spotify is going to “sunset the Spotify Live app,” as it believes “it no longer makes sense as a standalone app.”

Spotify instead indicates that it will continue to offer live audio in limited ways on the main Spotify app, such as listening parties, which lets paid users listen to music with friends even if they’re not in the same room.

The Verge reached out to Spotify for more information on whether Spotify Live features will still exist in the main audio app, but the company declined to elaborate. “While the Spotify Live app is shutting down...

Continue reading…

Sony is adding more accessibility information to games on the PlayStation Store

Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony is introducing new tags in the PlayStation Store that provide an overview of accessibility features you can use in a game. The new “Accessibility Tags” will start to roll out globally this week in the store on PS5, Sony’s Hideaki Nishino says in a post on the PlayStation blog.

The tags will provide information on accessibility options for things like visual, audio, control, and gameplay features. They could be quite useful if you want to make sure a certain game is able to accommodate your specific needs. You can get an idea of what the Accessibility Tags look like in this video from Sony.

The tags will “gradually” roll out this week, and Nishino says they’ll launch with games like Days Gone, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, Ghost...

Continue reading…

Today in Twitter: where are the retweet labels, and why did Doge replace the bird?

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Looks like it’s going to be another normal week on the bird site: people’s “Following” timelines are seemingly being flooded with unlabeled retweets from people they don’t follow, and a lot of people are seeing a Doge icon where the company’s bird logo used to be.

Regarding the first one, no, your Following timeline isn’t suddenly being run by the algorithm behind the “For You” one. Twitter has simply stopped labeling retweets. Previously, when someone you followed retweeted something, the tweet would have a note above it saying who was responsible for it showing up on your timeline. Now, that label seems to have vanished on the web, so the tweets look exactly like the ones from the people you follow.

The retweet label...

Continue reading…

Disney is already remaking Moana as a live-action film

Image: Disney

Moana, which was first released in 2016, is already being adapted for a live-action film. Disney revealed the new project with a video featuring Dwayne Johnson, who plays Maui in the animated movie.

“Like its animated predecessor, the film will celebrate the islands, communities and traditions of Pacific Islanders as seen through the eyes of a young woman eager to pave her own path,” Disney wrote in a press release. “Moana’s journey of self-discovery and reflection on the lives of her ancestors won hearts worldwide, as did her newfound friendship with an exiled demigod named Maui.” Disney didn’t say when the new film might be released.

The new Moana will join Disney’s growing slate of live-action remakes, including The Lion King, Beauty...

Continue reading…

YouTube will live stream six Coachella feeds at once this year

Image: Jaime Nogales/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Coachella kicks off next week, and if you want to watch it at home, you can pick from one of six streams at once on YouTube throughout both weekends, YouTube announced on Monday. That’s double the three simultaneous live streams you could catch last year.

This year’s Coachella lineup is pretty good, so I bet there will be a lot of good shows to watch on YouTube throughout the weekend. I’m personally interested in performances from Gorillaz, Wet Leg, Boygenius, Björk, and the ever-elusive Frank Ocean, and I’ll be doing my best to tune in throughout the weekend. That said, if you want to see a show, you should do your best to catch it live — YouTube is only promising that “highlights” from “many of the weekend’s performances” will be...

Continue reading…

Google Drive has quietly introduced a file creation limit for all users

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google has quietly introduced a limit on the number of files that you can create and save in Drive, as reported earlier by Ars Technica and CNET. The company confirmed to The Verge that you can create a maximum of 5 million files in Drive even if you pay for extra storage.

To be clear, the 5 million file cap only applies to the number of files that you create in Drive — not the total of files shared to your Drive. This means you can have over 5 million files in the system as long as they’re not solely created by you.

Google spokesperson Ross Richendrfer says the change comes as a way to “maintain strong performance and reliability” and that it should help prevent “misuse” of the company’s systems. If you reach the limit, Richendrfer...

Continue reading…

Netflix’s Kill Boksoon is a progressive but head-scratching thriller

Lee Yeon and Jeon Do-yeon in Kill Boksoon. | Image: No Ju-han / Netflix

A John Wick-style action film about an assassin balancing her bloody career with being a single parent.

Continue reading…

The Steve Jobs Archive is releasing a free ebook

The cover of Make Something Wonderful_._ | Image: The Steve Jobs Archive

The Steve Jobs Archive is releasing a new free ebook with speeches, interviews, and correspondence from the Apple co-founder, according to an announcement on the archive’s website.

Titled Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words, the book will feature Job’s perspective on “his childhood, on launching and being pushed out of Apple, on his time with Pixar and NeXT, and on his ultimate return to the company that started it all,” the archive says. The book (which the archive technically calls a “digital book”) will also include an introduction by Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs.

Make Something Wonderful is the first big release from the archive since its announcement in September. While the book’s website doesn’t share much...

Continue reading…

Microsoft Teams now has a green screen feature to make virtual backgrounds better

The new green screen feature in Microsoft Teams. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is adding a new green screen feature to Microsoft Teams today. It’s designed to improve Teams’ existing virtual backgrounds by increasing the sharpness and definition of the backgrounds around your face, head, ears, or hair. While it works best with a dedicated green screen, you can also take advantage of this feature with a solid color green or a clear background wall that’s behind you.

“The screen or background wall must be flat without stains or other irregularities,” says Jan Steberl, Microsoft Teams program manager, in a blog post. “Users must apply a background effect in Teams meetings to enable the green screen effect and should carefully select the backdrop color so that the effect is applied correctly and better...

Continue reading…

FIFA’s post-EA future starts with this AI-powered mobile game

Image: FIFA

Now that EA and FIFA have officially separated, we’re getting details about both of their soccer video game futures. EA has its upcoming simulation EA Sports FC, while FIFA just launched a mobile game called AI League. It’s available now on Android in open beta (an iOS version is listed as “coming soon”).

Developed by game studio Altered State Machine, AI League is described as a “4-on-4 casual football game, played between AI-controlled characters, with player input at fun and tactical moments. Players act as the coach and owner of their AI teams, with each AI footballer given unique AI traits that define their strengths and weaknesses. Players are able to collect and trade characters to create a team with their favorite talent...

Continue reading…

The Blue Beetle busts out a Buster Sword in first trailer

DC

The trailer for the Blue Beetle movie has apparently dropped sooner than DC had anticipated. The official Blue Beetle Twitter account teased that the first trailer for the movie would arrive sometime today, but it’s already circulating on social media. (The trailer is now live on all the official channels.)

The trailer features Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, an underemployed young man with a tight-knit family. One day, Jaime’s childhood friend Penny (Bruna Marquezine) entrusts him with a mysterious package that she begs Jaime not to open but also protect with his life.

Because this is a superhero movie, Jaime of course opens the package, discovering an alien artifact. The artifact, known as the Scarab, bonds to Jaime, covering him in...

Continue reading…

The latest iPad Air is once again $100 off — the best value among all iPads

The iPad Air’s M1 chip makes it more than capable for even demanding 3D mobile games like Genshin Impact_._ | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The best iPad for most people is back down to its best price ever. Apple’s latest iPad Air with 64GB of storage is on sale for $499.99 ($100 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. At this price, it’s just $50 more than the 10th-gen iPad but offers better performance and a slightly larger 10.9-inch screen. The midrange iPad Air utilizes an M1 processor for speedy, everyday app usage. While it favors Touch ID built into the power button over the more convenient Face ID of the iPad Pros, the latest Air feels pretty “pro” in most other ways — with second-gen Apple Pencil compatibility, add-on keyboard options, and a USB-C port. The Air ticks most of the boxes needed for iPad usage, from Apple Arcade gaming to content consumption and even getting a...

Continue reading…

Chemicals banned from air conditioners and refrigerators are making a comeback — and scientists don’t know why

In this image from September 2006, the Antarctic ozone hole measured 11.4 million square miles (29.5 million square kilometers). | Image: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Chemicals that were banned after they punched a hole in Earth’s ozone layer are still building up at an alarming rate in our atmosphere, according to research published today in the journal Nature Geoscience. The chemicals were once widely used in air conditioning and refrigeration but were supposed to be phased out globally by 2010.

Scientists were surprised to find that concentrations of several types of those chemicals have climbed since then, reaching a record high in 2020. The culprit could be alternative refrigerants that were meant to replace the ozone-depleting substances, the new research suggests. An even bigger problem? Researchers can’t find where all the chemicals are leaking from.

The ozone layer has managed to make a...

Continue reading…

The best robot vacuum you can buy right now

Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge

I’ve tested close to 50 robot vacuums. Here are the best, from budget robot vacuums to vacuum / mop hybrids with and without auto-empty docks and other fancy features.

Continue reading…

Opulent, joyous, decadent: the Japanese decoden trend comes to America

Image: Mengxin Li / The Verge

Make Steve Jobs roll over in his grave with a custom rabbit strawberry glitter frosting iPhone case.

Continue reading…

Apple’s Tim Cook says AR and VR are for ‘connection’ and ‘communication’

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge

At some point in the near future, Apple’s going to launch a mixed reality headset. That seems all but certain. The exact when and what and how much? All very up in the air. But one thing hasn’t changed: Tim Cook’s vision for AR and VR. For almost a decade, Apple’s CEO has been banging the drum that AR is more important than VR and that AR is fundamentally about bringing people together. And he’s still at it.

“If you think about the technology itself with augmented reality, just to take one side of the AR/VR piece, the idea that you could overlay the physical world with things from the digital world could greatly enhance people’s communication, people’s connection,” Cook told GQ’s Zach Baron in a long and very interesting profile just...

Continue reading…

WWE and UFC are merging into a sports entertainment behemoth

Image: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Just as CNBC scooped yesterday, Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor Group is acquiring World Wrestling Entertainment and will spin out a new publicly traded company that combines it with Ultimate Fighting Championship. The deal values WWE, which for decades has been owned and run by the McMahon family, at $9.3 billion and the Endeavor-owned UFC at $12.1 billion.

Both companies expect the agreement to close in late 2023. When it does, the result will be a combined sports entertainment powerhouse with fervent, loyal audiences for each brand. WWE just wrapped up WrestleMania, its biggest live event spectacle of the year, over two nights at SoFi Stadium. The company claims it reached a combined attendance of 161,892 people in the stadium. The event...

Continue reading…

Nintendo will repair faulty Joy-Cons for free in more parts of Europe

Image: James Bareham / The Verge

Nintendo has started offering free repairs for faulty Joy-Cons in more parts of Europe, regardless of warranty status, as first reported by Nintendo Life. On a support page on Nintendo’s UK website, the company says it will fix Joy-Cons inflicted with the dreaded stick drift “at no charge” in the UK, Switzerland, and the European Economic Area (EEA) — even if the company’s two-year warranty has expired.

Although Nintendo has offered free repairs for out-of-warranty Joy-Cons in North America, Latin America, and France, it never extended the policy to the UK, Switzerland, and all of the EEA until now. The company previously only repaired faulty Joy-Cons in these countries for free if they had an active warranty, and it’s unclear how long...

Continue reading…

Microsoft Flight Simulator tricked me into getting a pilot’s license

Mengxin Li / The Verge

The infinite possibilities for customizing flight simulator interfaces are what make them so realistic. But flying is really all about what these simulators can’t ever replicate.

Continue reading…

The mixed-up history of the shuffle button

Image: Mengxin Li / The Verge

A couple years ago, Adele had a complaint about Spotify. Her complaint was not about the miserly rates at which it compensates musicians, the monopolistic stranglehold it has on the music industry, or the misinformation-spewing podcast hosts that it employs. No, she had a gripe with the shuffle feature.

“Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended,” Adele tweeted shortly after the release of her album 30, a release so massive that almost no one could escape its story even if they would like to. In 2020, Spotify began to automatically shuffle albums for all listeners instead of playing them in assigned order. But Adele’s wish proved to be Spotify’s command, and the company removed its auto-shuffle function,...

Continue reading…

The rest of the auto industry still loves CarPlay and Android Auto

Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Last week, General Motors shocked the car world when it announced that it would be restricting access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its future lineup of electric vehicles. And so far, it appears to be alone in that decision.

GM said it wanted to move away from the smartphone projection systems to offer customers a more integrated experience that sees Google Maps, Google Assistant, Spotify, and other apps run natively on the car’s infotainment display.

But CarPlay and Android Auto are wildly popular; Apple says nearly 80 percent of new car buyers insist on the feature before making a purchase, while independent surveys suggest slightly lower but still robust levels of demand.

The rest of the auto industry gets it. The Verge...

Continue reading…

Tesla announces record deliveries following price cuts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tesla delivered 422,875 of its electric cars to customers in the first quarter of 2023, including 412,180 Model 3 and Y vehicles and 10,695 Model S and Xs, the company has announced. That’s a 36 percent year-over-year increase versus the first quarter of 2022, a 4 percent increase from last quarter, and a record for the company, according to Electrek.

The announcement doesn’t give much of an indication for the increase; for that we’ll likely have to wait for Tesla’s full financial results on April 19th. But news of the delivery numbers follow a series of price cuts across the US, Europe, and China impacting various models across Tesla’s range. In January, for example, Tesla reduced the price of the long range Model Y variant by 20...

Continue reading…