$5 billion Google lawsuit over ‘incognito mode’ tracking moves a step closer to trial

Illustration: The Verge

On Monday, a California judge denied Google’s request for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by users alleging the company illegally invaded the privacy of millions of people. The people suing Google say that occurred because Google’s cookies, analytics, and tools in apps continued to track internet browsing activity even after users activated Incognito mode Chrome, or other similar features like Safari’s private browsing expecting a certain level of privacy. However, the truth is, as we wrote in 2018, “What isn’t private: private browsing mode.”

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers pointed to statements in the Chrome privacy notice, Privacy Policy, Incognito Splash Screen, and Search & Browse Privately Help page about how incognito mode limits...

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Apple’s M3 Max MacBook Pro rumored to have 40 GPU cores and up to 48GB of RAM

The M2 Max model of the MacBook Pro 16. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Over the weekend, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman dug into the specs of a Mac Mini in testing with the new generation of Apple Silicon, and today, he’s reporting that in the high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, at least one version of the M3 Max chip seen in testing contains 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores as well as up to 48GB of memory.

Extensive rumors about Apple’s hardware refresh cycle are a sign summer is ending and we’re moving into the fall, and now that Apple has delivered on its promise of a new Mac Pro — even if it’s less exciting than many had hoped for — the M3 refresh cycle appears ready to get started. New MacBooks (Pro and Air), as well as Mac Mini and iMac desktops, are set to launch over the next year starting in October, and Gurman...

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Sony is now reportedly streaming PS5 games at 4K over the internet in public beta

No, not that Cloud. | Image: Square Enix

Sony said it was coming, and now it appears to be here. Several gamers say they’ve been invited to a public beta test of PS5 cloud gaming — one that streams games to a PS5 at up to 4K resolution.

We didn’t previously know Sony would be streaming at 4K, and it could be a big deal no matter what that “4K” actually means.

Anyone else get invited to try the new #PS5 game cloud streaming preview / beta?

Just got an email inviting me to download the latest beta system software but also to try the ability to stream PS5 games....#PlayStation pic.twitter.com/3KNDYpDXzW

— rdmetz (@rdmetz) August 7, 2023

While we haven’t yet confirmed the public beta with our contacts at Sony, several users at popular gaming forum ResetEra say they’re in, and...

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GM’s BrightDrop is bringing its electric delivery vans to Mexico

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

BrightDrop, the electric delivery spinoff of General Motors, is bringing its battery-powered delivery vans to Mexico as its next market. The company now covers all of North America after expanding to Canada last year.

The first two products that will be available to customers in Mexico will be the company’s Zevo 400 and Zevo 600 delivery vans. The Zevo 600 sports a 165 kWh battery pack for 250 miles of range. The Zevo 400 is smaller and nimbler — though we’re still waiting for more specific specs when it starts production later this year. Customers in Mexico will be able to place orders for the vans through BrightDrop’s website also starting later this year.

BrightDrop EVs are built at GM’s CAMI Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada,...

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Apple Music launches a Discovery Station to help you find new songs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple Music has a new station that’s designed to help you find songs you might like. The app’s Discovery Station will play a curated selection of music based on what you’ve been listening to lately but haven’t added to your library or heard before, as spotted earlier by 9to5Mac.

While Apple hasn’t officially announced the Discovery Station, it’s currently live on Apple Music’s mobile, desktop, and web apps for most users. You can find the option by heading to Listen Now and then looking beneath the Stations for You section. The Discovery Station works alongside the [Your name’s] Station, which plays a selection of songs that you already have in your library.

Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge

Some of my colleagues...

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Zoom wants its remote work company to come back to the office

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Zoom, a company whose name has become synonymous with video chats that have allowed many to work remotely during the pandemic, has told staffers who work within 50 miles of a company office that they’ll have to come back in two days per week, according to Business Insider.

“We believe that a structured hybrid approach — meaning employees that live near an office need to be onsite two days a week to interact with their teams — is most effective for Zoom,” Colleen Rodriguez, Zoom’s head of global PR, said in a statement. “As a company, we are in a better position to use our own technologies, continue to innovate, and support our global customers.” The company’s new hybrid work approach will roll out over August and September, The New York...

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The Red Cross lifts its blood donor restrictions for men who have sex with men

A nurse draws blood from two people at an American Red Cross bloodmobile in Fullerton, California, on January 20th, 2022. | Photo by Paul Bersebach / MediaNews Group / Orange County Register via Getty Images

The American Red Cross has fully dropped its blood donor ban on men who’ve had sex with men (MSM) and, starting today, bases eligibility on individual risk factors, per updated FDA guidance. The nonprofit now asks blood donor hopefuls “the same eligibility questions regardless of gender or sexual orientation.”

While the Red Cross has removed limits specific to men who have sex with men, it will require a three-month waiting period for anyone “to donate blood from last anal sex contact.” The Red Cross will also continue to refuse donations from people who are HIV-positive, even if their viral load is undetectable. Look at the nonprofit’s full FAQ page for other disqualifying factors.

The FDA’s new policy was announced earlier this year,...

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We just lost 3TB of data on a SanDisk Extreme SSD

The SanDisk Extreme Pro can shrug off dust and water, at least. | Image: SanDisk

If you’re thinking of buying a SanDisk Extreme Pro, Extreme Portable, Extreme Pro Portable, or WD MyPassport SSD, maybe just don’t.

My colleague Vjeran just lost 3TB of video we’d shot for The Verge because the drive is no longer readable.

Screenshot by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

“The disk you attached was not readable by this computer.”

This isn’t a drive he purchased many months or years ago — it’s the supposedly safe replacement that Western Digital recently sent after his original wiped his data all by itself. Remember when we warned you about that?

SanDisk issued a firmware fix for a variety of drives in late May, shortly after our story. They sent out Vjeran’s replacement in early June. He’d just begun...

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Movella brings professional motion tracking to virtual streamers

Movella has launched a specialized streaming app for Vtubers alongside motion-tracking hardware that’s a fraction of the price of professional mocap kits. | Image: Movella

Movella, a provider of professional motion capture solutions, has launched Obskur, an all-in-one platform that provides virtual streamers (also known as “Vtubers”) with body tracking technology that’s typically reserved for industries like film and game development.

There are two parts to the Obskur platform: a free OBS-like streaming application built using Unreal Engine 5 and a $1,995 “Mocap Box” that provides the actual tracking hardware for controlling a virtual avatar. Inside the box, you’ll find nine upper-body Movella Xsens tracking sensors — a technology that’s been used in animation across movies like The Avengers, Avatar, and Black Panther — alongside a customized pair of “StretchSense” gloves for tracking hand movements.

V...

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The Pixel Tablet and Pixel 7 phones are just a few Google gadgets on sale

The new Google Pixel Tablet is on sale for $60 off, which is a discount we’ve not seen before. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

For some inexplicable reason, Google has been discounting its products left and right this week — and other retailers are taking note by matching their prices. Maybe it has something to do with Google’s forthcoming 25th anniversary, but in the past few days alone, we’ve seen the first notable discount on the new Google Pixel Tablet and even a new all-time low price on the Google Pixel 7A.

Rather than highlight each deal in separate blog posts, we thought we’d make everybody’s life easier by rounding them all up here. We have no idea when these sales will end or if they’ll get even better as we approach the tech giant’s birthday, but for now, here are the best Google gadget deals currently available.

Google Pixel Tablet

First up, we’re...

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Ikea actually got a decent grade for its sustainable shipping goals

Container ships moored off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in Long Beach, California, on November 16th, 2021, as a historic traffic jam started to ease. | Image: Bing Guan / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Report cards are out for retailers’ climate goals, specifically when it comes to tackling the pollution from their shipping. Compared to other retail giants, Ikea managed to get surprisingly high scores.

With a B+ grade overall, Ikea stands out among the 17 other rated companies, which all received D or F grades. Apparently, the Swedish company has been more ambitious in its push for cleaner ships and ports, according to the coalition of environmental groups called Ship It Zero that rated the companies.

Today, the ships that haul all the furniture, gadgets, and other consumer goods we buy are major sources of pollution. Maritime shipping is responsible for about as much of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as aviation. It also pumps...

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Netflix is making it easier to give a show a thumbs-up when you’re watching on mobile

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is adding a way to give a thumbs-up, double thumbs-up, or thumbs-down to a show or movie while you’re watching it on mobile, which could give you an easier way to teach the streaming service’s algorithms about your viewing preferences.

With this new change, when you tap the screen while watching something, you’ll see the three different thumb buttons in addition to options you may be familiar with (like the skip forward / back buttons and changing the speed of a video).

Image: Netflix

The new thumb buttons will be available on Monday on iOS and “later” on Android, according to spokesperson Layal Brown. (Brown had “no other specifics to share” when I asked for a timeframe for the Android release.) And if you...

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The best laptop you can buy in 2023

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge

The best laptops for you, from ultraportables to high-powered editing machines

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Where to preorder Sony’s new Spider-Man PS5 console and accessories

Sony Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 bundle and console covers | Image: Sony

Preorders for Sony’s upcoming limited edition Spider-Man PlayStation 5 console and some of its matching accessories are still available. The themed setup can be bought as a full bundle with a disc-equipped PS5, a digital code for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and a matching controller for $599.99. Or, if you already own a PS5, you can get the same look via replaceable covers for $64.99, while the matching DualSense controller runs $79.99.

While the next installment of Insomniac’s Spider-Man game series isn’t due out until October 20th, all this friendly neighborhood gear is set to ship on September 1st.

Where to preorder the limited edition Spider-Man 2 PS5 console bundle

If you want the whole matching package, the limited edition PlayStation...

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TikTok is launching a livestream music competition

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok will host a music contest similar to popular talent shows like The Voice, the company announced today. The competition, called Gimme the Mic, will be held on TikTok livestreams and will incorporate live voting from fans as part of the contest.

The competition is split into three portions: audition, semifinal, and the grand finale. Beginning today, budding artists can submit a 30-second audition video using the #GIMMETHEMIC hashtag. The top 30 submissions will then advance to the semifinal, where they will pair up and perform in a livestreamed event. Live viewers will be able to vote for their favorites to advance. The September 10th US finale will include the top 10 performers — one of whom will get to compete in a global...

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Now you can block OpenAI’s web crawler

Image: OpenAI

OpenAI now lets you block its web crawler from scraping your site to help train GPT models.

In a blog post, OpenAI said website operators can specifically disallow its GPTBot crawler on their site’s Robots.txt file or block its IP address. “Web pages crawled with the GPTBot user agent may potentially be used to improve future models and are filtered to remove sources that require paywall access, are known to gather personally identifiable information (PII), or have text that violates our policies,” OpenAI said in the blog post. For sources that don’t fit the excluded criteria, “allowing GPTBot to access your site can help AI models become more accurate and improve their general capabilities and safety.”

Blocking the GPTBot may be the...

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The latest Call of Duty gets a November release date

Image: Activision

Surprising absolutely no one, Activision Blizzard has announced the latest Call of Duty game.

Posts today from developer Sledgehammer Games and the official Call of Duty accounts confirmed Modern Warfare III (not to be confused with 2011’s Modern Warfare 3, of course) will launch on November 10th.

The ultimate threat awaits #MW3 pic.twitter.com/owuzJvjxiy

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) August 7, 2023

Modern Warfare III will follow the events of Modern Warfare I and II — which were “gritty” reboots of 2007’s Modern Warfare and 2009’s Modern Warfare 2 campaigns. (Activision Blizzard, in its infinite wisdom, has seemingly decided to use Roman numerals to differentiate the reboots from the original trilogy.) Though Vladimir Makarov was...

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The Little Mermaid lands on Disney Plus in September

Image: Disney

The Little Mermaid is headed to Disney Plus. You can start streaming the live-action remake on the service starting on September 6th.

First released in theaters in May, The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton. The movie revisits the classic tale first shown in Disney’s 1989 animated film, once again following Ariel as she trades her voice for the ability to walk on land.

Disney's #TheLittleMermaid is making a splash at home! Stream it September 6 on @DisneyPlus! pic.twitter.com/fCD1rAZOqr

— The Little Mermaid (@LittleMermaid) August 7, 2023

As pointed out in The Verge’s review of the film, Bailey delivered a strong performance as...

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Zoom says its new AI tools aren’t stealing ownership of your content

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Zoom doesn’t train its artificial intelligence models on audio, video, or text chats from the app “without customer consent,” according to a Monday blog post from Zoom’s chief product officer, Smita Hashim. She also writes that “our customers continue to own and control their content.”

The company’s handling of customer data for AI training has come under scrutiny after a Stack Diary article reported on March changes to the company’s terms of service that appeared to give the company broad control over user data for AI work.

The new sections appear to merge descriptions of Zoom’s license to show the content users want to have streamed without somehow giving the service ownership over it with the sections concerning AI tools. Long before...

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Here’s a collection of gifts you can give mom no matter the occasion

Lego’s Wildflower Bouquet is a beautiful gift for mom, one she can easily put together herself. | Image: Lego

What do you gift your mom? That’s a challenging question to answer, especially given mothers — the generous, unselfish beings they can be — are not likely to spill the beans when asked.

Luckily, we’ve done the hard work for you. With the help of The Verge staff, we’ve curated a list of some of the best tech gifts you can treat your mom — or any mother figure, really — to year-round. Whether it’s for her birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, here you’ll find something that caters to all kinds of budgets and interests, ranging from smartwatches and Kindles to massage guns, robot vacuums, and more. You can rest assured that these are items we can personally vouch for as well, having tested and reviewed them ourselves.

Peruse this list...

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Gigabyte’s new RTX 4060 GPU fits three fans on a low-profile design

Image: Gigabyte

Gigabyte has launched a new low-profile GeForce RTX 4060 OC graphics card that’s designed to fit into mini PC builds, as spotted earlier by VideoCardz. Unlike many of the other GPUs meant for compact PCs, this one comes with three fans instead of just two or one.

That three-fan setup might make it a bit difficult to fit into some small form factor cases, as the card measures 182mm long. But it makes up for that with its thin 40mm height and 69mm width. Despite its slender design, the chip comes outfitted with two DisplayPort and two HDMI ports as well. It also comes with a low-profile bracket, which is a nice touch.

Image: Gigabyte

While it’s nice that Gigabyte has made a 40-series chip specifically for low-profile...

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Many of Sony’s biggest PlayStation 5 games are up to $40 off through August 19th

The Demon’s Souls remake is one of many exceptional games on sale right now. | Image: PlayStation

After this weekend kicked off some unprecedented deals across PlayStation 5 consoles, DualSense controllers, and even some colorful console covers, Sony and other retailers are also discounting some of the PS5’s biggest titles and exclusives. We’ve seen many of these deal prices in the past, but they only come around a handful of times per year, so it’s a good chance to fill gaps in your catalog with games you’ve been meaning to get to.

Here are some notable highlights of major PS5 game deals going on right now, all of which should run through August 19th:

• The suspenseful sci-fi roguelike shooter Returnal is $29 ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
• Gran Turismo 7 is $49 ($20 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. We’ve seen this one about...

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Meta accused of ignoring reports on dangerous content

Photo by Grayson Blackmon / The Verge

According to Meta, its Trusted Partner program “is a key part of our efforts to improve our policies, enforcement processes, and products, to help keep users safe on our platforms.” According to some trusted partners, though, Meta neglects its flagship initiative — leaving it significantly underresourced, understaffed, and allegedly prone to “operational failures” as a result.

That’s one of the core accusations of a report that the media nonprofit Internews published on Wednesday. The Trusted Partner program consists of 465 global civil society and human rights groups. It aims to provide them with a designated channel to alert Facebook and Instagram of dangerous and harmful content such as death threats, hacked accounts, and incitement...

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MrBeast’s burger company is suing him for $100 million

Photo by Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images for MrBeast Burger

A week after YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) sued his namesake virtual burger restaurant, the company behind MrBeast Burger has filed its own lawsuit against Donaldson and his Beast Investments. Virtual Dining Concepts, which handled the fulfillment and delivery of MrBeast Burgers, is seeking $100 million in damages. The news was first reported by Variety.

VDC alleged that Donaldson didn’t deliver on his contractual obligations, including publicity and promotional work, failing to publicly support MrBeast Burger, and making untruthful and disparaging statements. VDC says that Donaldson’s actions have caused “enormous financial harm” and that the burger restaurant’s reputation was destroyed.

“This case is about a social media...

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Red Dead Redemption rerelease comes to Switch and PS4 August 17th

Red Dead Redemption 2. | Image: Rockstar Games

Looks like Red Dead Redemption is moseying onto the Switch and PS4 (and the PS5 via backward compatibility). Rockstar Games announced today that the “new conversion” is courtesy of Double Eleven, which was founded by former Rockstar developers in 2009.

The game launches for the two systems on August 17th, more than a decade after it first showed its hide on the PS3 and Xbox 360. (That version is already compatible with newer Xbox consoles.) It was followed by a gigantic sequel in 2018. The releases will also include the noncanonical Undead Nightmare single-player campaign that pitted John Marston against hordes of zombies.

Red Dead Redemption will cost $49.99 in the Nintendo eShop and the PlayStation Store, while physical releases are...

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Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing Chat is coming to mobile browsers

Image: The Verge

Microsoft is bringing its AI-powered Bing Chat to mobile browsers soon. While Bing Chat has been available in separate Android and iOS mobile apps since late February, Microsoft is opening it up to all mobile browsers as part of the broader changes to stop blocking Bing Chat on third-party browsers.

Bing Chat first launched in February, but it was restricted to Microsoft’s own Edge browser. Microsoft started opening up to Chrome and Safari desktop browsers in late July as part of testing for full third-party browser support.

“With so many new, useful features now a part of Bing, we’re excited to announce you can start experiencing the new AI-powered Bing in third-party browsers on web and mobile soon,” says the Bing team in a blog post....

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Tesla is losing its Master of Coin

Zachary Kirkhorn, left, served four years as chief financial officer at Tesla. | Image: Tesla / Screenshot

Zachary Kirkhorn is stepping down as chief financial officer and “Master of Coin” at Tesla, he announced today on LinkedIn. Kirkhorn, who has served for 13 years at Tesla, four of which as CFO, will be replaced by chief accounting officer Vaibhav Taneja.

“Being a part of this company is a special experience and I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done together since I joined over 13 years ago,” Kirkhorn said. “As I shift my responsibilities to support this transition, I want to thank the talented, passionate, and hard-working employees at Tesla, who have accomplished things many thought not possible.”

“I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism”

He added, “I also want to thank Elon for his leadership and optimism, which...

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WhatsApp is working on 32-person voice chats

Illustration: The Verge

WhatsApp’s latest beta has a new voice chat feature that lets groups of up to 32 people connect for a spoken session, according to beta notes published by WABetaInfo. WhatsApp beta version 2.23.16.19 is rolling out to testers on Android, adding features similar to Telegram and Discord chats, Slack’s Huddles, and even Meta’s own Messenger platform.

If it’s live in your version of the app, you’ll notice a waveform icon within group chats — but only if the WhatsApp account has the feature enabled and includes compatibility with the group. Tapping the button immediately launches voice chat, along with its own interface. Then, anyone in the group, up to 32 people, can just jump in and start talking. Unlike the existing group calls feature,...

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PayPal launches PYUSD stablecoin backed by the US dollar

Image: PayPal

PayPal is launching its own stablecoin: PayPalUSD (PYUSD). The company says the cryptocurrency token is “fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits” and can be bought or sold on PayPal’s app or website at $1.00 per PYUSD.

With PYUSD, you can make person-to-person payments, fund purchases with the currency at checkouts, and transfer PYUSD between PayPal and other outside wallets. PayPal says that you can also convert the currencies supported by PayPal to and from PYUSD as well.

Stablecoins take their name from the fact that they’re centralized and backed by existing government-supported currencies like the US dollar or the Euro. The US government is still hashing out how to regulate stablecoin and other forms of cryptocurrency. After all,...

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Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review: the flip phone we’ve been waiting for

It’s a big update year for Samsung’s flip-style foldable — and a much larger cover screen makes all the difference.

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