A brief history of Elon Musk sabotaging Matt Levine’s time off

“My life has not been ruined by having to write about Elon Musk on Saturdays.” | Laura Normand / The Verge

This story, originally published October 28th, 2022, has been updated because, well, you are never going to guess what happened.

Matt Levine would like you to know that Elon Musk does not actually ruin all of his vacations. Sure, he was at Sesame Place, the theme park just outside Philadelphia, with his kids when Musk announced his Twitter bid, and then stayed up until midnight that night to get his newsletter, Money Stuff, out. But that was kind of fun! “My life has not been ruined by having to write about Elon Musk on Saturdays,” the former mergers and acquisitions lawyer told me. And in M&A, everything happens on the weekend.

The main problem, actually, was that he was working on a 40,000-word Bloomberg Businessweek story about...

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The Backbone One mobile game controller for Android is 30 percent off

Although the above photo shows the iPhone version, the Backbone One for Android looks identical — save for the USB-C plug. | Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

One of the best ways to play games on your phone just got a whole lot cheaper thanks to an Amazon Prime Day Lightning Deal. The Backbone One controller for Android is currently on sale for a very nice $69.99 ($30 off) at Amazon in either PlayStation (white) or Xbox (black) flavors. You can take your pick based on control layout, though they work the same way. By plugging into just about any current Android phone’s USB-C port, you get native physical controls for compatible mobile games or games streamed via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PlayStation Remote Play, or Steam Link.

The Backbone One can give you a competitive edge (or it allows you to cheat, depending on who you ask) in mobile games as well as a traditional controller layout with...

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Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo to Microsoft employees about the FTC win

Xbox chief Phil Spencer outside a San Francisco courtroom. | Image: Getty Images

Microsoft just won a big legal fight with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to allow it to close its $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. After a grueling five days of evidence and testimony, a US federal judge has sided with Microsoft to prevent the FTC from securing a preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard.

The hearing involved key Xbox executives, including Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. The Xbox chief has written to Microsoft employees about today’s FTC result, noting that the company’s focus is now on resolving the situation with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Both Microsoft and the CMA have agreed to pause their legal battle to negotiate a potential remedy after...

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The see-through Beats Studio Buds Plus just received their first discount

Earbuds, but also eye candy. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

If you were waiting for a decent deal — or any deal, for that matter — to land on the new Beats Studio Buds Plus before picking them up, now is your chance. Right now, you can buy the stylish pair of wireless earbuds at Amazon for $149.99 ($20 off) as part of Amazon Prime Day, which is the first discount we’ve seen on them since they made their debut in May. Both Best Buy and Target are also matching Amazon’s price, if you’re not a Prime member.

The Studio Buds Plus are a big improvement over their predecessor, the Beats Studio Buds, with the most noticeable difference being their appearance. The new earbuds now come in a fun translucent option, one that’s reminiscent of the throng of transparent gadgets we saw during the late-’90s. If...

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The Ahsoka series’ latest trailer is one big, rebellious reunion

Ahead of the live-action Ahsoka series upcoming at the end of August, Disney’s dropped a new trailer detailing how Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano will cross paths with a number of familiar faces from Star Wars Rebels,including one very important villain.

Much like Ahsoka herself, Baylan Skoll (the late Ray Stevenson) is no Jedi in Ahsoka’s new trailer that spotlights how he sends his apprentice Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno) after the series’ eponymous Togruta at a time when Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) is plotting to return to power. With Thrawn back on the playing field and Baylan meaning to ally himself with the villainous tactician, heroes like Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) are...

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Intel is quitting on its adorable, powerful, and upgradable mini NUC computers

This Intel NUC 9 Extreme was one of the larger of the mini-computer line and had more gaming horsepower. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Intel’s NUC computers are super compact, upgradable, and even powerful — but now, they’re being discontinued. ServeTheHome first reported that Intel is giving up on the personal computer business and will no longer be making its cute small form factor PCs.

In an email to The Verge, Intel’s EMEA comms manager of client computing and graphics, Mark Walton, confirmed the news and issued the following statement:

We have decided to stop direct investment in the Next Unit of Compute (NUC) Business and pivot our strategy to enable our ecosystem partners to continue NUC innovation and growth. This decision will not impact the remainder of Intel’s Client Computing Group (CCG) or Network and Edge Computing (NEX) businesses. Furthermore, we are...

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Amazon claims it’s been ‘unfairly singled out’ by the EU’s digital content rules

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon doesn’t believe it fits the definition of a “very large online platform” — at least not how the European Union defines it.

The retail giant is taking legal action to challenge the EU’s new content moderation rules for big tech companies, claiming that the company is being unfairly targeted by the legislation. On Tuesday, Amazon filed a petition with the EU’s General Court to request that the European Commission annul its decision to designate Amazon as a “very large online platform” (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), arguing that the company doesn’t meet the requirements to fall under such a category.

“The DSA was designed to address systemic risks posed by very large companies with advertising as their primary revenue...

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Wonka’s first trailer is a whimsical origin story

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s going to be a busy holiday for Timothée Chalamet fans. Not long after he reprises his role as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two, we’ll get to see him in something very different: as Willy Wonka in a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The new flick is simply called Wonka, and we got our first proper look at the fantasy musical in a new trailer today, which shows Chalamet’s Wonka setting out to become a master chocolatier, while dealing with hurdles like a chocolate cartel and fines for daydreaming.

Chalamet is an interesting choice for the role, which is closely associated with Gene Wilder, who played Wonka in the original film adaptation from 1971 and passed away in 2016. Tim Burton also tried his hand at adapting the novel...

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Microsoft and UK regulators agree to pause their Activision battle to negotiate

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have both agreed to pause their legal battle over the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition in order to further negotiate. Microsoft has just won a separate ruling with a US federal court against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the CMA is the last regulator preventing the Xbox maker from completing its $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard deal.

The UK regulator moved to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition in April, and Microsoft was due to appeal that decision with a hearing set to start on July 28th. Microsoft has now agreed with the CMA to pause its appeal process to look at how the transaction could be modified to address the CMA’s cloud gaming concerns.

“After...

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The best iPad to buy

The Verge

There are more iPads than ever, and it can be tough to sort out which one is the best for you. Fortunately, we’re here to guide you through your next iPad purchase.

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Foundation: all the latest on Apple’s sci-fi epic

Image: Apple

Stay up to date with trailers, news, reviews, and interviews.

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Nothing’s flashy Phone 2 lands in the US for $599

Nothing’s Phone 2 in gray. | Photo by Allison Johnson /The Verge

Nothing’s Phone 2 has officially arrived. The company has already preannounced plenty of details about the handset, so the big news today is the Phone 2’s price and release date. It’ll be available starting at $599 (£579 / €679), and unlike last year’s device, the Phone 2 will be available to buy in the US. Preorders start today, and the phone will be publicly available July 17th.

There are a couple of different variants of the Phone 2 available. The starting price gets you 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but there are also step-up models with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $699 (£629 / €729) and 12GB and 512GB of storage for $799 (£699 / €849). For comparison, the Phone 1’s starting price for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage was...

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Amazon Prime Day 2023: the best tech deals, tips, and latest news

Illustration by Hugo Herrera for The Verge

Every ounce of coverage for Amazon’s big, made-up shopping holiday currently taking place on July 11th and 12th.

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The best Amazon Prime Day deals under $50

The Chromecast with Google TV (4K) is down to just $39.99 for a limited time. | Image: The Verge

Amazon Prime Day has brought some stellar discounts on a number of items, but let’s also recognize that spending $150 on a pair of wireless earbuds isn’t always feasible. You don’t have to feel too discouraged, though; Prime Day still serves as a great opportunity to save some on a variety of budget-friendly gadgets and gizmos, from smart speakers to standout controllers, all of which can be had for less than $50.

If you know where to look, there are quite a few budget-friendly items on sale for Prime Day, many of which we’ve rounded up below. And while Amazon deals are available only to Prime members, in some cases, retailers are matching prices, so there should be a deal available to everybody.

The best audio deals under $50

• You...

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Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

A California judge is allowing Microsoft to close its acquisition of Activision Blizzard after five days of grueling testimony. Microsoft still faces an ongoing antitrust case by the Federal Trade Commission, but Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has listened to arguments from both the FTC and Microsoft and decided to deny the regulator’s request for a preliminary injunction.

In a ruling submitted today, Judge Corley said the following:

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to...

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The best Prime Day 2023 phone deals

You can save a bunch on a Google Pixel 7 Pro today. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Because time is a flat circle, back-to-school season is creeping up on us just as we were getting settled into summer. Fall flagship phone launches are on the horizon, too. But before you trade in your SPF 30 for a pumpkin spice latte, there’s at least one more summer soiree on the calendar: Prime Day.

The annual summer shopping holiday that was foisted upon us by our online retailer overlords is here once again. And if you’ve managed to hold off on a new phone purchase until now, I have good news for you: there are some darn good savings to be had on an unlocked Android phone. If you managed to put off a new phone purchase until today, then give yourself a little pat on the back; your patience is about to be rewarded.

The best Amazon...

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Discord is making it easier for parents to keep track of what their teens are up to in the app

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Discord is introducing a new tool called Family Center that lets parents better understand who their teens are talking to on the platform. Importantly, a teen has to opt in to let their parents see what they are doing.

If a teen opts in, their parent or guardian will be able to see recently added friends, servers they’ve joined or participated in, and the display names and avatars of people they’ve messaged or called in DMs or group DMs. All of this data will show up on a new Family Center dashboard, which shows a teen’s activity over the past seven days. Parents will also get the data in a weekly email summary. However, parents will not be able to see what their teen writes or says.

For a parent to connect to their teen’s account,...

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Elgato’s Stream Deck MK.2 has hit an all-time low of $109.99 for Prime Day

Buttons are even more fun to push when you can decide what they do and how they look. | Image: Elgato

There aren’t many devices some of us here at The Verge appreciate quite like Elgato’s Stream Deck. The quaint macro controller and its 15 excellent, customizable LCD buttons are wonderful for Twitch streamers or anyone who spends many hours at a computer and enjoys tinkering with shortcuts. In fact, we’re such big fans that it was the sole topic on an episode of The Vergecast, and one of our former writers even made a virtual bubble wrap plug-in for it.

If any of that sounds fun or interesting to you, then you should jump on Amazon’s Prime Day deal for the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2, which is currently on sale in white for $109.99 ($40 off) and in black for $114.99 ($35 off). I should also note that the fancier Stream Deck Plus, with its...

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Amazon’s latest Kindle is on sale for just $65

Amazon’s latest Kindle has hit an all-time low. | Photo by Sheena Vasani / The Verge

Few e-readers can beat those in Amazon’s Kindle lineup, especially if you’re someone who is already embedded in Amazon’s ecosystem. And right now, two of our favorite models — specifically the entry-level Kindle and the latest Kindle Paperwhite — are on sale for Prime Day. You can currently buy the 2022 Kindle at Amazon with ads starting at an all-time low of $64.99 ($35 off). Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite, meanwhile, is available at Amazon starting at $89.99 with 8GB of storage and ads. Note that these deals are exclusive to Prime members only.

By itself, the latest Kindle offers a lot of value for the money, which is why today’s Prime Day deal on the popular ebook reader is such a standout. In many ways, Amazon’s newest Kindle...

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The best gaming deals of Amazon Prime Day

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Between the ongoing Steam Summer Sale and now Amazon Prime Day, it’s a great time to save on a wide swath of video games for both consoles and PC alike. Whether you play games on Sony’s PlayStation 5, the Nintendo Switch, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X / S, or a Windows PC, gaming can be an expensive hobby — especially with more and more games launching at the higher $69.99 pricing tier. But thankfully, the deals usually start trickling early and often.

Here, we’ll highlight and list out all the exceptional gaming deals we can find this Prime Day — on both the games themselves and the accessories that accompany them. From headsets and controllers to monitors and related tech for streaming on Twitch or YouTube, we got it all.

The best Amazon...

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Can banks push Bitcoin to clean up its act?

Rows of Bitcoin mining machines at a facility in Rockdale, Texas, on October 9th, 2021. | Photo by Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images

It’s time for banks and asset managers to start pushing Bitcoin to clean up its pollution, Greenpeace argues in a new report. The environmental organization wants to see Bitcoin change its code to slash energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a big ask, but Greenpeace argues that financial institutions could have an outsize influence on the Bitcoin network through its business dealings.

“The report focused on nine major financial institutions that are providing the glue that keeps the Bitcoin ecosystem together,” says Joshua Archer, who leads Greenpeace USA’s Bitcoin campaign. “Financial institutions have an important responsibility, but they’re currently ignoring the severity of the problem.”

“The report focused on nine...

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All the news about Netflix’s gaming efforts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is deep into video games.

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Anthropic’s ‘friendly’ AI chatbot, Claude, is now available for more people to try

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Claude, the AI chatbot that Anthropic bills as easier to talk to, is finally available for more people to try. The company has announced that everyone in the US and UK can test out the new version of its conversational bot, Claude 2, from its website.

Its public availability allows Claude to join the ranks of ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard, all of which are available to users across numerous countries. That means we all have one more AI chatbot to play around with, but Anthropic says to “think of Claude as a friendly, enthusiastic colleague or personal assistant who can be instructed in natural language to help you with many tasks.”

Claude, which Anthropic also describes as “helpful, harmless, and honest,” can do things like create summaries,...

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Best laptop deals happening during Amazon Prime Day 2023

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Amazon Prime Day is one of the few times each year when you can find a bunch of different laptops, of all shapes and sizes, on sale at the same time. But not all deals are created equal (and there are some truly bad ones out there), so we’ve picked out the best bargains right here.

If you’re looking for deals on products in multiple tech categories, check out our main roundup that we’re frequently updating here.

Best Prime Day deals on Windows laptops

The Surface Laptop 5 is one of the best laptops for most people, especially if you’re looking for something thin and light that’s painless to carry around. You can currently get it for as low as $899; Best Buy has marked the Core i5/8GB/256GB model down 10 percent from its original price...

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Bear 2 is a terrific notes app — and it only took forever to build

Bear 2 doesn’t look that different – but it’s a completely new app. | Image: Shiny Frog

Bear 2, the new note-taking app from developer Shiny Frog, is launching today on iOS, iPadOS, and Mac. It comes with lots of new features. You can now create tables in Bear notes. You can play GIFs, preview links and PDFs, scan documents, add footnotes and a table of contents, bring your own fonts, and more. You can also style your documents more easily: until now, using Bear required at least a passing knowledge of the Markdown language, but now it looks and works more like any other text editor. I’ve been using the beta for many months, and it’s one of my favorite note-taking apps for Apple devices.

The new version is a long time coming. It’s a complete rewrite of the app, Shiny Frog CEO Danilo Bonardi says, and has been a lot more...

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Everything in The Verge merch store is on sale

So yeah, it’s Prime Day, and we’ve put together the best deals across the internet. But we’ve got another place for you to shop: The Verge merch store. Over the past year, we’ve been dropping new apparel and accessories designed for you, readers of The Verge. For the next 48 hours, you can take 20 percent off all products. We’ve got tees, hoodies, rain jackets, pillows, bottles, bags, and so much more. The discount code PRIMEDAY23 will automatically be applied at checkout because we want to make it easy for you to save those bucks.

Grab some stickers for your laptop, some joggers to get comfy while streaming, or even a fanny pack for your tinier gadgets. There are even premium wallpaper packs designed by our award-winning...

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The best Apple deals available for Amazon Prime Day 2023

The Apple Watch Series 8 is just one of many Apple products on sale this year for Prime Day. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Obviously, Amazon Prime Day offers an excellent opportunity to save a lot of money on Amazon’s devices — it’s kind of in the name. Luckily, it’s also a good time to save on gadgets from other popular brands. We’ve included some of the best deals on sales going on outside of the Amazon ecosystem in our main Prime Day roundup, but if you’re specifically interested in Apple products, here is where you’ll find the cream of the crop.

Below, you’ll find deals on a wide range of Apple products, from the latest and greatest to the classics. They include everything from the Apple Watch Series 8 and the entry-level iPad to even the new Apple-owned Beats Studio Buds Plus. What’s more, other retailers — including Best Buy and B&H Photo — are...

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Best smart home deals for Amazon Prime Day 2023

Photo by Wes Davis / The Verge

There are roughly a bajillion smart home devices out there. A bunch of them are on sale for Amazon Prime Day 2023. Whether you’re just starting your smart home or you’ve been waiting to add some smart light bulbs, a smart lock, a new indoor or outdoor security camera, or even a robot vacuum, it’s a good opportunity to save some cash.

Here are the best discounts we’ve found on devices that work with Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and Alexa.

Before you buy any smart home device, make sure it works with the smart home platforms and the phone ecosystems you already use. Matter makes this easier — kind of, but also kind of not. There’s also a lot of junk out there! Here’s some stuff that’s actually worth buying. We’ll keep...

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Best smartwatch and fitness tracker deals for Amazon Prime Day 2023

You can find a ton of discounts on smartwatches, including the Apple Watch SE (2022) and Series 8, on Prime Day. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Whether you’re looking for an Apple Watch, Android smartwatch, or maybe even a plain old fitness tracker, you’re in luck. Amazon Prime Day 2023 is a great time to snag discounts on smartwatches and fitness trackers alike. This is especially true if you’re a budget-savvy shopper looking to upgrade to nicer materials, like titanium cases and sapphire crystal displays.

Sifting through Prime Day deals for wearables can be a bit of a headache. There are so many sizes, colors, and feature sets to choose from! But we’ve rounded up the best here so you don’t have to. Just keep in mind you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription to partake. And when you’re done here, you can always head back to our Prime Day deals guide for some more shopping...

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Best headphone and earbud deals for Amazon Prime Day 2023

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

We’ve firmly settled into summer, and the warmer months always make for a good time to upgrade whatever earbuds or headphones you’re wearing everywhere during the nice weather. If you’re due for something new, you might as well seize upon some of the best discounts that are on offer for Amazon’s Prime Day 2023 event.

The best noise-canceling headphones deals

• The Sony WH-1000XM5s are on sale for $328, a substantial drop from their regular price of $399. They’re easily Sony’s best noise-canceling headphones yet and have a more stylish design than previous models in the series.
• If you don’t need the latest and greatest, Sony’s WH-1000XM4 are still plenty impressive — and they’re being heavily discounted down to $248 from their regular...

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