The Verge
iPhone 15 event: all the news on Apple’s new phones
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
Here’s the latest from Apple’s iPhone 15 event.
The VergeThe VergePicross developer to port lost 3DS games to the Switch
Image: Jupiter / Nintendo
When the Wii U and 3DS stores were shut down earlier this year, they took a lot of digital-only games with them, including a treasure trove of Picross titles. But the nonogram gods smile on us today as Picross developer Jupiter has apparently announced it will soon port all nine of its digital-only Picross e games to the Switch, including a Japan-only exclusive.
First reported by Nintendo Life and seemingly confirmed via retweet from the official Jupiter X / Twitter account, Picross S+ will launch on the Switch sometime in 2024. Picross S+ will initially include the puzzles of Picross e and add the subsequent Picross e games as paid puzzle packages. Of note, Picross e9, a Japanese exclusive, will be included in the Picross S+ bundle,...
The VergeDrop’s own-brand keyboards are getting a customizability upgrade
Drop’s new tenkeyless Ctrl V2, with its high-profile case. | Image: Drop
Fresh off being acquired by Corsair, Drop is overhauling its in-house mechanical keyboard lineup with the new Alt V2, Ctrl V2, and Shift V2. Like their 2018-era predecessors, the Alt V2 is a compact keyboard with a 65 percent layout, the Ctrl V2 is tenkeyless (so it doesn’t have a numpad), and the Shift V2 has all the keys of a full-size keyboard but smushed into a more compact 1800 layout. There are also upgrade kits to let existing Ctrl, Alt, and Shift owners turn their keyboards into V2 models.
Combined, the improvements should help bring the keyboards up to date with their modern competitors. Their PCBs now offer support for five-pin switches rather than three-pin, which means they’re now compatible with the vast majority of...
The VergeSupply Chain by Amazon sounds like Amazon Prime for manufacturers
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Amazon is bringing its advanced logistics capabilities to businesses that don’t even sell on the marketplace. In an announcement on Tuesday, the e-commerce giant says its new Supply Chain by Amazon service lets sellers ship products directly from factories — whether it’s going to Amazon or not.
As part of the program, Amazon will pick up, ship, and deliver products to customers from manufacturing facilities across the globe. It will also manage customs clearance, ground transportation, bulk storage, and inventory replenishment. This means sellers shouldn’t have to worry about the supply chain side of their business, letting them focus solely on marketing their products and taking care of sales.
Supply Chain by Amazon is a big deal for...
The Verge10 years ago, Apple finally convinced us to lock our phones
Touch ID was a blessing for lazy teens like me who couldn’t be bothered to set an unlocking PIN. | Photo by Lintao Zhang / Getty Images
Every phone you pick up today has a fingerprint scanner, a face scanner, an option for PINs with four, six, or more digits, and often all of them at once. Phones prompt you to set up a scan and a passcode the first time you turn them on, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have some form of security set up.
But go back just 10 years, and the story was very different. Back when our phones were still used almost entirely as phones and not teeny personal computers, most of the “locking” features on mobile devices were designed more to prevent you from butt-dialing anyone than to protect your sensitive information.
It wasn’t until the iPhone 5S came along — 10 years ago this month — that everything changed.
...
The VergeIntel makes Thunderbolt 5 official, promising speeds of up to 120Gbps
Image: Intel
Intel is making Thunderbolt 5 official today with promises of up to 120Gbps speeds, theoretical support for 540Hz gaming monitors, 240 watts of charging power, and much more. While the Thunderbolt 5 specification is now official, accessories and PCs won’t debut with support for Thunderbolt 5 until 2024.
Built on USB4 v2, Thunderbolt 5 will be compatible with previous versions of Thunderbolt and USB. While Thunderbolt 4 supported up to 40Gbps speeds, Thunderbolt 5 can transmit data at 80Gbps or up to 120Gbps in a Bandwidth Boost mode. This mode requires a high-bandwidth display; otherwise, Thunderbolt 5 supports 80Gbps bidirectional speeds.
Image: Intel
Thunderbolt 5 has some big bandwidth boosts.
Thunderbolt 5...
The VergeThe TikTok Shop rolls out in the US
TikTok lets you buy things now. | Image: TikTok
Starting today, TikTok users in the US can buy stuff directly in the TikTok app as the company rolls out TikTok Shop, its online marketplace that’s already live in the UK. With this change, brands and creators alike can sell directly to you in their videos — and it may even be fulfilled by TikTok itself.
The change isn’t immediately obvious when you open the app, but now, when you search for something, a new Shop tab can show you related items. You may also notice certain videos now have a button labeled “Shop” just above an account’s name — tapping that will let you buy whatever it is the video is hawking. Whether this will be annoying is up in the air; so far, I’ve just seen videos peddling small electronic puzzles and a fancy salt...
The VergeWestern Digital now sells SSD upgrade drives for the Steam Deck and ROG Ally
Image: Western Digital
Western Digital is launching its new SN770M NVMe SSD, designed specifically for devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally. The small M.2 2230 form factor drives will be available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB options, allowing handheld gamers to significantly upgrade their storage.
Replacing the SSD inside a Steam Deck has always been relatively easy work, but finding M.2 2230 drives hasn’t always been quite as easy. These smaller drives aren’t typically sold to consumers and are usually found inside Dell and Microsoft Surface laptops instead. That situation is starting to improve, though. Sabrent, Micron, Corsair, and others sell M.2 2230 drives, and Framework even started selling its own 2TB upgrade drive earlier this year.
Western Digital...
The VergeCalifornia passed a first-of-its-kind bill mandating pollution disclosures, including supply chain emissions
Senator Scott Wiener on Friday, January 10th, 2020, in San Francisco, California. Wiener authored a newly passed bill that requires carbon footprint disclosures from big companies. | Photo By Liz Hafalia / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
California legislators passed a bill Monday night that would force big companies doing business in the state to disclose how much planet-heating carbon dioxide pollution they create. It will be the first mandate of its kind in the nation if it’s signed into law and comes as the SEC drags its heels on a similar federal mandate.
The bill, SB 253, requires the California Air Resources Board to develop rules by 2025 for companies with annual revenues over $1 billion. By 2026, the companies would have to publicly report greenhouse gas emissions that come from their operations and electricity use. Crucially, they’ll also be required to disclose how much pollution is generated by their supply chains and customers by 2027.
“Huge climate win in...
The VergePhilips Hue’s two-bulb starter kit is on sale with a Hue Bridge for $40 off
Amazon’s discounted bundle arrives just as Philips Hue is gearing up to roll out support for Matter, the new smart home standard. | Image: Philips Hue
Outside of Sengled and Wyze, there are few companies in the smart lighting space as well known as Philips Hue, which offers one of the more robust catalogs of smart bulbs and light fixtures. However, it’s also not known to be particularly cheap. Thankfully, Amazon is currently offering a Philips Hue starter kit containing two color-changing A19 bulbs and a Philips Hue Bridge for just $89.99 ($40 off), which matches the lowest price we’ve seen on the entry-level kit. Some Prime and non-Prime accounts may even see an added 15 percent off coupon on Amazon’s page, dropping the Hue starter kit to an even lower $76.49, but we’re unable to verify the rhyme or reason of who gets that deeper discount. If you do, consider yourself blessed by the...
The VergeApple’s India-made iPhones to be available at launch for the first time
After shifting some iPhone 14 (pictured) production to India shortly after launch last year, the iPhone 15 may be the first model to sell India-made units on launch day. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Apple will reportedly hit a major milestone regarding its global supply chain with the expected launch of the iPhone 15 later today. As reported by Bloomberg, Apple is set to make India-built iPhone 15 units available to purchase in India and “some other regions” on the first day of sales — arriving at the same time as the China-made ones for the first time.
While the vast majority of the global iPhone 15 stock will still come from China, this milestone highlights that Apple’s attempt to scale production in India is finally bearing fruit as it moves away from its reliance on Chinese-based manufacturing. Apple first started assembling existing generations of iPhones in India back in 2017.
Apple is aiming to produce 25 percent of its...
The VergeRad Power Bikes says it will only produce UL-certified e-bikes and batteries going forward
Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge
Rad Power Bikes, the largest e-bike manufacturer in North America, says that going forward, it will only produce bikes that comply with UL safety standards. The announcement comes after a series of deadly fires, mostly in New York City, were linked to malfunctioning e-bike batteries.
UL Standards and Engagement (formerly Underwriter’s Laboratory) is a nonprofit organization that develops safety standards for a whole host of consumer products, including e-bikes and e-scooters. (Its for-profit equivalent, UL Solutions, tests and certifies e-bikes.)
Until now, these safety standards were entirely voluntary, but that could be changing after the New York City Council passed a law requiring all e-bikes sold in the city to comply with UL...
The VergeWith Netflix’s live-action One Piece, the devil (fruit) was all in the details
Jeff Ward as Buggy the Clown. | Image: Netflix
You only need to take a casual glance at the new live-action One Pieceadaptation to see that Netflix went all out when it came to translating Eiichiro Oda’s vision of a wild world full of pirates to the small screen. A big part of what makes the live-action One Piece work so well are the massive ship and town sets that make the show feel like it’s happening out in the real world rather than on a soundstage.
But when you look a little more closely at many of the places Luffy and his fellow straw hats find themselves in as the series progresses, it becomes clear that One Piece’s creative team poured their hearts and souls into stuffing the show with the finest details you can imagine.
Though Netflix’s One Piece is very much its own...
The VergeHow to follow The Verge’s new Tech Cases Bot
Illustration: The Verge
If you’ve ever followed a lawsuit or criminal trial in the US, you may have come across the work of the Free Law Project. Its Recap database is one of the best ways to freely access documents typically stored in the paywalled Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. And one of its cleverest uses of Recap is the Big Cases Bot: an automated account on X / Twitter and Mastodon that checks for updates to the most important cases in US federal courts, automatically downloads the associated files to the Recap database, and posts an update linking to them.
The Big Cases Bot has been an excellent resource for The Verge over the years — I check it, and so do other writers and editors. But by design, it’s a general-interest feed...
The VergeThe antitrust trial against Google Search starts today — here’s what to expect
Illustration: The Verge
Google is facing a threat to its core business as it turns 25. This is how it starts.
The VergeUS v. Google: all the news from the search antitrust showdown
One of the biggest tech antitrust trials since the US took on Microsoft is underway.
The VergeA history of Apple making us buy new cables
Did you buy any of these in your Apple ownership life? | Photo by Umar Shakir / The Verge
Lightning cables will soon join the junk pile of dongles, adapters, and accessories that Apple has left behind over the years — for better or worse.
The VergeFujifilm’s new GFX100 II medium format camera is smaller, faster, and $2,500 cheaper
The new GFX takes some cues from the GFX100S, including a pretty aggressive price (for medium format, that is). | Image: Fujifilm
Camera and lens prices keep going up, but somehow, Fujifilm’s latest medium format mirrorless flagship includes a bunch of new features but costs significantly less than its predecessor. Fujifilm has announced its new GFX100 II camera at its X Summit livestream from Stockholm, Sweden, and in addition to a new sensor, new subject-detecting autofocus, and full-width 4K video, the new camera will have a price of $7,499 when it comes out in the fall, about $2,500 less than the GFX100.
Couple that with a new $2,299 55mm f/1.7 R WR lens (equivalent to a 44mm in full frame) and a pair of tilt-shift 30mm and 110mm lenses ($3,999 and $3,499, respectively) also launching in the fall, and the somewhat dormant GFX line suddenly looks to have some...
The VergeNokia phone maker HMD is launching its own smartphone brand
After releasing devices like the Nokia C32 (pictured) this year, HMD now plans to launch its own smartphone brand. | Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images
HMD Global, the Finnish company best known for producing Nokia-branded smartphones, has revealed plans to launch its own line of mobile devices. On Monday, HMD Global CEO Jean-Francois Baril announced on Linkedin that the company will be expanding its portfolio with a new HMD brand that will co-exist alongside its Nokia phones and collaborations with “exciting new partners” that have yet to be disclosed.
“It has been a great journey as ‘HMD – the home of Nokia phones’ – an exclusive position we have held for the past six years,” said Baril. “Now we are ready for the next step on our journey - to enter the market independently as a force to create a new world for telecommunications focused on consumer needs.”
HMD Global hasn’t provided a...
The VergeAdvocates urge Chuck Schumer to tackle AI’s climate impact
Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge
A coalition of environmental, tech, and anti-hate speech groups sent a letter to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today demanding that the Democratic leader craft policy to address the growing impact AI could have on climate change.
Companies should be required to disclose the environmental impact of developing energy-intensive AI models, the letter says. And legislation aimed at curtailing the misuse of AI should include measures to prevent disinformation about climate change from spreading with the help of AI, the coalition writes.
The letter was signed by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Greenpeace USA, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, and more than a dozen other groups.
The letter was...
The VergeThe scooter wars might be over, as Lime claims victory
Photo by Omar Havana / Getty Images
The shared electric scooter business has gone through a series of ups and downs over the last few years — mostly downs, if we’re being honest — but now, one company is ready to claim the mantle of victor.
Lime released a new set of financial figures that it says proves that last year’s slim profits were no fluke. The company reported gross bookings of $250 million in the first half of the year, a 45 percent increase over the same period last year. And it’s touting an adjusted EBITDA profitability of $27 million — the first time the company has achieved this for the first half of the year and a 45 percent margin increase over last year — and an unadjusted $20.6 million profitability.
To say that Lime is feeling itself would be an...
The VergeMGM ‘cybersecurity issue’ shuts down slot machines and ATMs in Las Vegas casinos
Illustration by Carlo Cadenas / The Verge
A “cybersecurity issue” at MGM Resorts has forced the famous hotel and casino company to shut down many of its systems, according to a statement the company posted just before noon ET on X (formerly Twitter). MGM replaced its homepage with a message apologizing for the site’s outage and providing a list of concierge phone numbers at several locations, like the Aria, The Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, New York-New York, and Vdara.
The issue isn’t limited to MGM’s Las Vegas locations. NBC 10 News in Philadelphia reports that MGM’s Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City was likewise affected by the attack, though hotel representatives didn’t say how. MGM Grand Detroit Casino is also affected, reports Play Michigan, with an X user posting...
The VergeAnother group of writers is suing OpenAI over copyright claims
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
A group of writers is suing OpenAI over claims the company illegally used their works to train its AI ChatGPT chatbot, as reported earlier by Reuters. In a lawsuit filed on Friday, Michael Chabon, David Henry Hwang, Rachel Louise Snyder, and Ayelet Waldman allege OpenAI benefits and profits from the “unauthorized and illegal use” of their copyrighted content.
The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and calls out ChatGPT’s ability to summarize and analyze the content written by the authors, stating this “is only possible” if OpenAI trained its GPT large language model on their works. It adds that these outputs are actually “derivative” works that infringe on their copyrights.
“OpenAI’s acts of copyright infringement have been...
The VergeTikTok accidentally blocked Hollywood writers strike videos while casting a QAnon net
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
TikTok videos about the Hollywood writers strike were temporarily blocked as the platform attempted to moderate QAnon conspiracy theories.
Media Matters for America, a nonprofit media research group, reported today that TikTok users were unable to search for content related to the Writers Guild of America strike. “WGA” and “WGA strike” didn’t return any search results on the app despite continuing waves of coverage of the writers and actors strikes. Within a few hours of MMFA’s report being published, the search results were restored and now appear to be working as usual.
TikTok confirmed that it accidentally blocked searches for the WGA strike content while attempting to block QAnon conspiracy theories; TikTok spokesperson Ben Rathe...
The VergeAll the big conferences and events in tech, entertainment, and automotive coming this fall
Illustration: The Verge
September and October are some of the most exciting months of the year if you’ve been waiting all year to see the latest and greatest tech, even if that just means meeting the annual new iPhone. Of course, events are also planned for entertainment, cars, and more, and you’ll be able to catch all the latest news on major events and conferences here on The Verge.
The IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin kicked off the slate, leading into the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) that runs through September 17th.
The schedule truly picks up now with Apple’s iPhone 15 launch event, dubbed “Wonderlust.” Apple’s event is on September 12th at 1PM ET / 10AM PT, and we’ll be stepping into the depths of Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park...
The VergeInternet Archive appeals loss in library ebook lawsuit
Image: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Internet Archive announced today that it has appealed its loss in a major ebook copyright case. A notice indicates that it’s filed with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Hachette v. Internet Archive, a publishing industry lawsuit over the nonprofit group’s Open Library program. The appeal follows a settlement that saw the Archive limit access to some of its scanned books as well as a second suit filed by music publishers over the Archive’s digitization of vintage records.
Hachette and three other publishers — HarperCollins, Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House — sued the Internet Archive in 2020 after it opened a program dubbed the National Emergency Library. The National Emergency Library expanded the Archive’s long-running...
The VergeLithium-ion batteries with recycled metals nearing production in the US
Photo by Wan Shanchao / VCG via Getty Images
We could soon see more lithium-ion batteries made with recycled materials thanks to a new partnership. BASF, a battery materials producer, has announced that it’s teaming up with Nanotech Energy, a maker of graphene-based energy products, to produce lithium-ion batteries with recycled materials for customers in North America.
While BASF will create the cathode active materials using recycled metals from a Battle Creek, Michigan facility, Nanotech will use those materials to create the lithium-ion battery cells. Making the batteries with recycled metals could decrease their CO2 footprint by around 25 percent, according to BASF.
Additionally, BASF and Nanotech Energy will also work with the American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) and...
The VergeEpic Games taps former MCU character designer as new creative executive
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Epic Games has a new chief creative officer. Days after the role’s previous owner, Donald Mustard, announced his retirement, Epic Games has revealed his replacement: Charlie Wen. Wen is a former concept artist and designer who’s worked at Riot, Disney, Marvel, Sony, and more, and he’s got some pretty sweet bonafides.
From his LinkedIn:
Charlie was responsible for designing and integrating the look and feel of Marvel’s innumerable iconic heroes and villains from divergent realms into one cohesive cinematic universe. He was also in charge of inspiring future scripts through the visual storytelling of keyframes. His films include Thor, Captain America: the First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: the Dark World, The...
The VergeFDA approves Pfizer and Moderna covid vaccines with new formula
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Food and Drug Administration has approved newly formulated covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. Unlike booster shots released in the past, this vaccine isn’t made with components of the original covid variants that spread in 2020. It’s a monovalent vaccine that targets an omicron subvariant instead, reports The New York Times, as advised by the FDA in June.
The new vaccines specifically address the omicron variant XBB.1.5, which became the dominant covid strain in certain parts of the US last winter and is more closely related to EG.5, which currently accounts for 21.5 percent of cases, according to CDC data.
Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance program...
The VergeMeta is adding new customization options to its avatar creator
Image: Meta
Meta is adding some better customization features to its avatar creator as part of the latest update for its Quest headsets. With the v57 update, you’ll be able to “fine tune things like your hair and eyebrow color, more accurately adjust your skin tone, add makeup and face paint, and otherwise make your VR persona better reflect how you see yourself IRL,” according to a Monday blog post from Meta.
I don’t have the update yet, but based on a screenshot from Meta (which I’ve included at the top of this post), it seems like the update will add a lot of much-needed improvements. For example, in the screenshot, you can see that there are sliders to specify a shade for the person’s base hair color and their highlights; on v56, which is what I...