Twitter alternatives for the Musk-averse

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter users (and ex-users) are still watching to see what the next chapter will be in the soap opera called “What Elon Musk will do with Twitter next.” Start a small war with Substack? Temporarily replace its bird logo with a Doge? The possibilities seem endless.

If you’re becoming bored with the whole thing, and you want to continue following social networking without having to deal with Twitter, where do you go? We’ve looked around and found several possible alternatives. Most don’t have the size and scale of Twitter, and it’s hard to say if any of them will attract enough followers to give it a run for its money. Some of them ape the real-time feed of Twitter, but most provide a different take on what a social network can look...

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Update: We won! — The Verge is nominated for three Webby Awards, and you can help us win!

Update Tuesday, April 25th, 2:05am ET: The 27th Annual Webby Award winners have been announced, and The Verge is taking home THREE Webbys this year!

• Best in Technology Video: Full Frame with Becca Farsace
  Webby Winner & Webby’s People’s Voice Winner
• Best in Technology Podcasts: The Vergecast
  Webby’s People’s Voice Winner

This was a record-breaking award season with over 14,000 entries and 2.5 million votes cast. In addition to our People’s Voice wins, we are also Webby Winners, meaning that our work ranked in the top 4 percent of work judged by the Webby Academy. (Woo!) Thank you all so much for the support. We can’t wait to go on stage and share our five-word speech in just a few weeks in NYC!

_Apr 18th, 2023, 7:30AM ET:_The...

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WiZ’s inexpensive smart lights now work with Apple Home thanks to Matter

WiZ’s inexpensive smart lighting line now works with Apple Home through Matter. | Image: Signify

Smart lighting company WiZ has updated all its smart bulbs, lamps, and plugs manufactured in early 2021 or later to Matter, beating its sister brand Philips Hue to the punch. The company’s new app, WiZ v2, now lets users migrate any compatible product to the new smart home standard directly in the app and, from there, add them to any Matter-compatible platform, including Apple Home.

Previously, the WiZ smart lighting line was only compatible with Apple’s smart home platform through Siri Shortcuts. Now, with Matter, many of its products can be added to the Apple Home app and controlled along with any other product supported by Apple Home. Signify, which owns both brands, has said Philips Hue will also be Matter compatible, but that u...

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Terra co-founder Daniel Shin charged with fraud in South Korea

Screenshot: UDC via YouTube

Daniel Shin, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, was indicted in South Korea in connection with the collapsed Terra and Luna cryptocurrencies. According to reports from Bloomberg and the local Yonhap News Agency, Shin was charged on Tuesday with offenses including fraud, breach of duty, and embezzlement.

Prosecutors at Seoul Southern District Court also indicted nine other people with ties to Terra, some of whom had roles in marketing, systems development, and management, as reported by Bloomberg. The outlet also reports that prosecutors have frozen a total of 246.8 billion won (about $184.7 million) in assets from the individuals they charged.

Shin created Terraform Labs with co-founder Do Kwon in 2018. The company released its Luna...

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GM, Hyundai announce EV battery plants for the US

Image: Getty Images

Two major automakers announced separate plans to build electric vehicle battery plants in the US, a sign that the fast-paced expansion of EV manufacturing in the country has yet to slow down.

General Motors announced it will pair up with Samsung SDI to jointly invest $3 billion in an electric vehicle battery plant in the US. Separately, Hyundai said it would form a joint venture with another South Korean battery maker, SK On, for a $5 billion investment in a battery factory in Georgia.

A sign that the fast-paced expansion of EV manufacturing in the country has yet to slow down

Expected to start in 2026, the GM-Samsung factory will have more than 30GWh of capacity, bringing GM’s total US battery cell capacity to about 160GWh when it is...

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The makers of Octodad just released a free dating simulator where you play as a snake

No, I don’t know why a snake would date a horse. | Image: Young Horses

Young Horses, known for lighthearted games like Octodad: Dadliest Catch and Bugsnax, just released four free games that you can play on Steam right now. Even though the studio is describing them as “smaller side projects,” the games, which Young Horses is releasing under what it calls the “Free Range initiative,” all seem like fun diversions to check out if you’re looking for something silly to play.

My eye was first drawn to Snakedate, where you play as a snake looking for dates in a club. “Cruise around the club and wrap around your dates to show your affection!” according to the game’s Steam description. For some reason, it seems you are trying to date horses. Sounds great!

Maybe you’re looking for something ant-related? (Who isn’t?)...

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Microsoft Edge is leaking the sites you visit to Bing

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft’s Edge browser appears to be sending URLs you visit to its Bing API website. Reddit users first spotted the privacy issues with Edge last week, noticing that the latest version of Microsoft Edge sends a request to bingapis.com with the full URL of nearly every page you navigate to. Microsoft tells The Verge it’s investigating the reports.

“Searching for references to this URL give very few results, no documentation on this feature at all,” said hackermchackface, the Reddit user who first discovered the issue. While Reddit users weren’t able to uncover why Microsoft Edge is sending the URLs you visit to its Bing API site, we asked Rafael Rivera, a software engineer and one of the developers behind EarTrumpet, to investigate, and...

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Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 has dropped to a new all-time low

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 is on sale in all configurations starting at $219.99. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

We’re in the heart of spring, which means sunny skies, super blooms, and... good smartwatch sales? Perhaps it’s because more people are working out outdoors, but in the past month, we’ve seen a number of wearable deals that are as good as the ones we saw around the new year.

Today, for instance, you can buy Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watch 5 at an all-time low in various sizes. The LTE-equipped 40mm wearable is available for $249.99 ($80 off) at both Amazon and Best Buy, or, if you prefer the Bluetooth-enabled configuration, it’s on sale at Amazon and Best Buy starting at around $219 ($61 off).

Along with a more durable sapphire crystal glass cover, the Galaxy Watch 5 offers a few extra capabilities over the Galaxy Watch 4, including the...

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The Verge’s 2023 Mother’s Day Gift Guide

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

From transparent chargers and TikTok gems to the latest wearables, we’ve curated a batch of unique gifts fit for any mom worth celebrating.

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These are the places most at risk for a record-shattering heatwave

A resident walks through a temporary misting station on Abbott Street during a heatwave in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, June 28th, 2021. | Image: Trevor Hagan / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Every region of the world needs to prepare for unprecedented heatwaves, warns research published today in the journal Nature Communications. The study also pinpoints which places are most at-risk of record-breaking heat in the future and urges people to start preparing now for weather events they might not have thought possible in the past.

The researchers identified which locations are probably past due to seeing their temperature records shattered. They also considered factors that make certain communities more vulnerable than others, like booming population growth and limited access to air conditioning or healthcare.

Crucially, they find that communities facing the most risk have never dealt with such extreme heat in the past. That...

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Cruise continues to burn GM’s cash as robotaxis expand to daylight hours

Image: Cruise

Cruise, the autonomous vehicle division of General Motors, is now operating a “small” fleet of driverless robotaxis in San Francisco during daylight hours for the first time. The news comes as Cruise continues to operate in the red, losing $561 million in the first quarter of 2023.

The company earned just $30 million in revenue for GM, though most of that money comes from interest and other non-operating sources. Cruise, which operates robotaxis in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin, says it remains on track to hit $1 billion in revenue by 2025 and $50 billion by 2030.

Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the company expanded its driverless fleet size by 86 percent, from 130 to 242 “concurrently operating AVs.” The vehicles have since passed the...

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‘As an AI language model’: the phrase that shows how AI is polluting the web

AI language models can be used to generate convincing text — as long as you remember to remove the label. | Image: The Verge

A big worry about the rise of AI language models is that the internet will soon be subsumed in a tidal wave of automated spam. So far, these predictions have not yet come to pass (if they prove true at all), but we are seeing early signs that tools like ChatGPT are being used to power bots, generate fake reviews, and stuff the web with low-grade textual filler.

If you want proof, try searching Google or Twitter for the phrase “as an AI language model.” When talking to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the system frequently uses this expression as a disclaimer, usually when it’s asked to generate banned content or give an opinion on something subjective and particularly human. Now, though, “as an AI language model” has become a shibboleth for machine...

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Who’s making money in Big Tech?

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple, Meta, Google, and more report how their companies are performing.

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WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple phones

Illustration: The Verge

WhatsApp users are no longer restricted to using their account on just a single phone. Today, the Meta-owned messaging service is announcing that its multi-device feature — which previously allowed you to access and send messages from additional Android tablets, browsers, or computers alongside your primary phone — is expanding to support additional smartphones. “One WhatsApp account, now across multiple phones” is how the service describes the feature, which it says is rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.

Setting up a secondary phone to use with your WhatsApp account happens after doing a fresh install of the app. Except, rather than entering your phone number during setup and logging in as usual, you instead tap a new “link to...

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Bitcoin is still the future of payments, says Lightspark CEO David Marcus

Photo illustration by Will Joel / The Verge

Crypto has a lot of haters these days. The former Facebook exec is trying to prove them wrong with his Bitcoin startup.

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Asus ROG Ally hands-on: Windows but tiny

The ROG Ally.

I had a fun time testing this device, but everything’s going to come down to price.

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The Witcher’s third season starts streaming in June

Image: Netflix

Season 3 of The Witcher finally has a premiere date. Netflix announced that the fantasy series will return in June, though not all episodes will be available at once.

Similar to how Stranger Things 4 was split in two halves, The Witcher’s third season will be released in two batches: episodes 1-5 will start streaming on June 29th, while6-8 will be available on July 27th.The third season was previously pegged for a summer 2023 timeframe. We also got a first look at the season via a brief minute-long teaser trailer.

The show’s second season debuted at the end of 2021, and since then, Netflix has attempted to expand the Witcher universe through spinoffs like 2022’s Blood Origin, which starred Michelle Yeoh and was set 1,000 years before...

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How to figure out which apps are draining your device’s battery

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Your super-powerful, ultra-versatile phone, tablet, or laptop suddenly becomes a lot less useful when its battery dies — which is why battery life is so important for gadgets. Whether it’s checking the battery capacity before buying something, investing in a portable power bank, or deploying special low-power modes, we’re all trying to get as much time as possible between charges.

One of the ways to make sure device battery life is stretched as far as possible is to identify the apps that are sucking up the most power: You can then use them less, change their settings to make them less energy-demanding, or uninstall them altogether. This usually isn’t difficult to do, and it means you’ll be much more clued up about what’s draining your...

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Republicans respond to Biden reelection announcement with AI-generated attack ad

Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign this morning, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) has responded with an attack ad featuring AI-generated images.

The ad contains a series of stylistic images imagining Biden’s reelection in 2024. It suggests this will lead to a series of crises, with images depicting explosions in Taiwan after a Chinese invasion and military deployments on what are presumably US streets.

A small disclaimer in the top left of the frame says “built entirely with AI imagery,” while the caption underneath the YouTube video reads, “An AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024.” A spokesperson for the RNC told Axios it was the first ad of its kind put out by the...

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AMD announces Ryzen Z1 and Z1 Extreme chips for handheld gaming PCs

The Ryzen Z1. | Image: AMD

On Friday, we told you how AMD is quietly arming a whole new wave of Steam Deck competitors. But the company’s now saying the quiet part out loud: today, it’s officially announcing the AMD Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme, a pair of 4nm processors specifically aimed at handheld gaming PCs.

The Ryzen Z1 Extreme pairs eight of AMD’s Zen 4 CPU cores and 16 threads with 12 of its RDNA 3 graphics cores as well as 24MB of cache — and promises up to a whopping 8.6 teraflops of raw graphic performance, far closer to the 10.28 teraflops of a Sony PS5 than the 1.6 teraflops you get with a Steam Deck.

Meanwhile, the vanilla Ryzen Z1 has six CPU cores and 12 threads, four GPU cores, and 22MB of cache — that’s still enough for a...

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OnePlus’ first tablet will cost $479

The OnePlus Pad offers high-end specs for a midrange price. | Image: OnePlus

OnePlus has announced pricing for its first tablet, the Android-powered OnePlus Pad. Starting this Friday, April 28th, the OnePlus Pad will be available for preorder for $479 (€499 / £499) from OnePlus directly. Accessories for the Pad include a $149 magnetic keyboard case, a $99 stylus, and a $39 folio case. It is expected to begin shipping on May 8th from OnePlus, with Amazon availability slated for later in May. Those that place a preorder before May 8th will be able to get 50 percent off a set of OnePlus Buds Pro 2 earbuds when purchased with the tablet.

The OnePlus Pad is entering a tablet market that’s dominated by Apple, with Samsung scooping up whatever’s left. OnePlus originally made its name by selling high-end smartphones at...

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DJI’s new Mavic 3 Pro rocks three cameras instead of two

The Mavic 3 Pro and Pro Cine have the new bug-eyed three camera system. | Image: DJI

About a year and a half after the launch of DJI’s flagship Mavic 3 drone, the company is now releasing a newly refreshed “Pro” version that’s rocking, well, three cameras instead of two.

The new DJI Mavic 3 Pro — and its slightly more movie-magic-focused Mavic 3 Pro Cine counterpart — arrive next month and come with a new triple-camera system that includes the four-thirds Hasselblad camera included in the previous model. That main shooter uses a 24mm lens (like the standard Mavic 3), but it’s now joined by a new 70mm medium-tele camera and a 166mm zoom camera for more precise framing.

Mavic 3 Pro’s Hasselblad camera still shoots at a max resolution of 5.1K at up to 50 fps, and it can do slow-mo 120fps with DCI 4K mode. The new 3x camera...

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Netflix details 2023-2024 animated film lineup featuring Nimona, Ultraman, and more

Ultraman. | Image: Netflix

Fresh off of an Oscars win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Netflix is detailing what other animated films it has in store for this year and next. There are no specific release dates, but the slate includes nine movies in total, with a mix of previously revealed titles and brand-new announcements, including the Spongebob spinoff Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie and some more details on the much-anticipated Nimona.

Here’s the full lineup:

Image: Netflix

Nimona.

Nimona

September 2023

We already knew that Netflix and Annapurna Pictures had picked up Nimona, an adaptation of ND Stevenson’s graphic novel of the same name, which was previously attached to Disney. Now Netflix has revealed a bit more of...

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Lucid puts its Gravity SUV on real roads for testing

Lucid’s Gravity SUV on the road with only a slight camouflage. | Image: Lucid

Lucid’s inching closer to production of its second vehicle, the all-electric Gravity SUV, and it’s got some pictures to show for it. The automaker released two new photos and a teaser video of the upcoming luxury vehicle on Tuesday and announced that it has entered “a new phase of development,” with driving tests now being conducted on US public roads.

The images show off an only slightly camouflaged Lucid Gravity in a mostly dark gray matte wrap, with social media logos and an invitation for onlookers to follow the automaker. The SUV is seen curving along an open road in an area with grassy plains.

Lucid seems to have intentionally framed the images to obscure interior details, including the second image of the rear, which is zoomed...

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GM is ending Chevy Bolt EV and EUV production at the end of the year

Image: Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge

The end is nigh for the Chevy Bolt.

General Motors plans to end production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV at the end of 2023, GM CEO Mary Barra announced in an earnings call Tuesday. The company plans to use the capacity at its Orion Township, Michigan, assembly plant to build electric trucks starting in 2024.

The end of production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV is a huge blow to affordable EV ownership. The Bolt is one of the cheapest EVs currently on the market, with a starting price of around $24,000. The price could be even lower when applying the $7,500 EV tax credit.

The Bolt was always at a disadvantage

But the Bolt EV and EUV were always at a disadvantage, built on GM’s older and soon-to-be-obsolete BEV2 platform. The automaker...

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Burning Shores’ focus makes it the best part of Horizon Forbidden West

Seyka in Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores_._ | Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

I was relieved when I first looked at the small map in Horizon Forbidden West’s new expansion, Burning Shores.

Sony’s Horizon series is renowned for its expansive open worlds that are littered with things to do. When you look at the huge maps in both Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, they’re covered with tiny icons pointing you to quests to help your fellow humans, battle with fearsome robot dinosaurs, and even just interesting places to see. You can easily spend dozens upon dozens of hours in each game and not see everything they have to offer.

But for me, both games just had too much. With each, I’ve tried to be open to exploring at my own pace and letting my curiosity lead the way, but I’d inevitably get tired of the busywork of trying to...

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Toyota Prius review: EV reality check

Toyota’s fifth-generation Prius certainly has a lot to like.

Until our public charging infrastructure can handle the demands of rapid EV adoption, the Toyota Prius offers no-hassle efficiency. And for a lot of buyers, that’s all that matters.

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Yelp is going to let you add videos to your reviews

Image: Yelp

Yelp is going to let you add video to your reviews, which could make it easier to share additional context about an experience at a location you’ve visited. Currently, you can write text and add photos, but a video might be a better way to capture ambiance or certain aspects of a place. The videos will be short — they can only be up to 12 seconds long — but I could see them being a useful tool when I’m doing some research about where to go.

The addition of videos is just one of many new features Yelp is rolling out as part of a series of notable updates. Yelp is also improving reviews by suggesting topics to write about like “food” and “service” and adding four new review reactions. And unsurprisingly, Yelp is also marketing a handful of...

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Slack launches Canvas, a docs app that lives inside your chat app

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The best thing about Slack’s new Canvas feature is that I barely need to explain it to you. It’s like Google Docs but inside of Slack. Make a canvas, add some stuff, and share it with whoever you want. Every channel in your Slack now has a canvas attached to it, and you can also make and share as many as you want. That’s it!

Slack first announced Canvas last year, and they’re starting to roll out to all Slack users today. I’ve been testing an early version over the last few days, and they’re definitely going to be one of my more-used Slack features going forward. They’re maybe the most useful organizational tool Slack has ever created.

See, the problem with Slack is that it’s chaos. Since it’s primarily a messaging app, everything that...

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A supermodel turned herself into one of Epic’s hyperrealistic MetaHumans

Image: Unsigned Group and Dimension Studio

Czech model Eva Herzigová is now a MetaHuman. The model revealed on Tuesday that there is now a digital likeness of herself in the form of one of Epic Games’ MetaHumans. According to a press release, Herzigová was scanned in a “70 camera rig” and participated in a motion capture shoot to help create the realistic digital avatar.

“This now means that Eva’s MetaHuman can be re-dressed, posed and lit, have her hair and make-up restyled, and her body and facial expressions are ready to be animated using motion capture or traditional animation,” the release says. Herzigová’s MetaHuman can now be used for things like virtual fashion shows and modelling digital clothes — hopefully for better fashion events than Metaverse Fashion Week.

...

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