LAist employees clash over Bari Weiss ad campaign

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Today I will cover a controversial ad campaign that has raised questions at LAist, a pivot at Clubhouse, and a group of late night hosts who are taking their podcast to Las Vegas.

Before I start with the news, one brief side note: Herb Scannell, the head of Southern California Public Radio, announced his retirement just yesterday. Nick Gerda of LAist does a good job of laying out what Scannell’s exit means for SCPR — which includes LAist 89.3 (formerly KPCC), LAist.com, and the podcast unit LAist Studio — in a reported piece that I suggest you read.

LAist avoids questions on audio ads sponsored by Bari Weiss’ The Free Press

LAist’s...

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Update everything: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Edge just patched a big flaw

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and Brave have each issued critical security patches, reports Stack Diary. The patches address a vulnerability that an attacker could use to gain access to or run malicious code on your computer, and the companies acknowledge it’s been actively exploited in the wild. NIST classifies the vulnerability as severe. Other companies’ applications are affected — the vulnerability is linked to code used to render WebP images, which are widely used.

The software version numbers containing the fix are below.

• Google: Chrome version 116.0.5846.187 (Mac / Linux); Chrome version 116.0.5845.187/.188 (Windows)
• Mozilla: Firefox 117.0.1; Firefox ESR 102.15.1; Firefox ESR 115.2.1; Thunderbird 102.15.1; Thunderbird 115.2.2
• M...

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Google’s emoji mashup maker is now available in Search

Yes, you can even create a strawberry koala. | Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge

You can now create your own emoji combinations directly in Google Search. The company has launched its Emoji Kitchen feature on the web (via 9to5Google), which lets you mash up existing emoji to create different combinations, like an angry pumpkin or a panda wearing a cowboy hat.

To start using the tool, all you need to do is type “Emoji Kitchen” into Google Search and click on the “Get cooking” prompt. From there, you pick from dozens of different emoji to combine or play around with the randomizer. Once you’re done experimenting, you can click on the resulting emoji to copy it to your device’s clipboard, allowing you to paste it as a sticker into a message or document.

The emoji maker also works on mobile browsers and the Google app,...

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Tech leaders want ‘balanced’ AI regulation in private Senate meeting

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Tech leaders called for regulation that balances innovation and safety as the Senate conducted one of the many “insight forums” to inform potential rulemaking.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) invited leaders in the AI space, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Nvidia president Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and X chair Elon Musk to a bipartisan AI Insight Forum.

The forum was closed to the public and media, but some tech leaders prepared remarks or spoke to reporters outside the event.

Zuckerberg said in prepared remarks that “Congress should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards.” He said there are two defining issues for AI: safety and access.

M...

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Faze Clan fires CEO as esports industry struggles

Zach Katz, FaZe Nickmercs, and Lee Trink at Parq Nightclub in San Diego, California. | Photo by Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images for FaZe Clan

Faze Clan, a merchandising and influencer marketing agency that was once synonymous with the esports space, has fired CEO Lee Trink. CFO Christoph Pachler will take over for Trink on an interim basis, Bloomberg reports.

Faze Clan cultivated a lavish and freewheeling image during its early years. The firm maintained teams across many different esports titles, created gaming-adjacent content for social media platforms like Twitch and Snapchat, and sold branded apparel. Trink, who had no esports background when he became Faze’s CEO in 2018, aimed to position it as a youth-oriented culture and lifestyle company. “We are the voice of this current gaming generation,” he said on an episode of The Vergecast in 2019, during which he also compared...

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SpaceX’s Starlink made $1.4 billion last year

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

Starlink, the SpaceX satellite internet service, generated $1.4 billion in revenue last year, documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal reveal. That’s up from $222 million in 2021 but $11 billion short of its original projections, according to the Journal.

Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal’sreport comes the same day SpaceX exec Jonathan Hofeller said at a conference that it’s no longer incurring losses for producing Starlink’s satellite antennas, reports CNBC. According to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal, profitability took a hit in 2022, but a report by the outlet last month said SpaceX did manage to turn a profit in the first quarter of 2023_._

In a 2015 presentation to investors, the Elon Musk-founded company...

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Sony announces a new PlayStation State of Play event

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Sony is hosting a State of Play presentation on Thursday, September 14th, the company announced on Wednesday. This State of Play will be focused on “indie and third-party titles from around the world,” Sony said, so don’t hold your breath for big new reveals from the company’s PlayStation Studios.

“Tomorrow’s broadcast will focus on updates to previously announced games coming to PlayStation consoles,” Sony’s Shawne Benson wrote on the PlayStation blog. “From indie and PSVR2 highlights, to major upcoming titles from our third-party partners, our latest show has something for everyone!” The event kicks off at 5PM ET / 2PM PT.

Thursday is quickly shaping up to be a big day for gaming news. Nintendo will be kicking off the day with its next...

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The full version of Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to Mac soon

Image: Larian Studios

Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally about to leave early access on Mac. Developer Larian Studios said Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter) that the game’s third major patch would be arriving on September 21st “with full support for BG3 on Mac.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is technically already available on Mac, but currently, it’s only the early access version that doesn’t include all of the content in the full version of the game that first released on PC in August and recently came out on PS5. In a post on Steam from June, Larian said that the full Mac version would be released “at a later date, and we’ll update you as soon as we have a target” — I’ll take Wednesday’s post on X as that update.

Thank you from the fiery infernal engine we keep in place of...

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How to create a QR code using a browser

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

QR codes can be very useful, especially when it comes to getting to a webpage quickly and easily. (For example, I’m always resorting to the QR codes at NYC bus stops to find out that I just missed the bus two minutes ago and the next one is due in about 20 minutes.) If you want to guide somebody quickly to your website or to a webpage that they need, you can create a QR code for that page.

There are a variety of QR code generator apps out there that you can access. (Keep in mind that it’s wise to be careful which one you choose since a less-than-honest app can include tracking or other code with the generated QR.) In addition, some online services, such as Instagram, may offer their own QR code generation. But for a good general...

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Spotify will let artists pay to appear as homescreen recommendations

Image: Spotify for Artists

Spotify has launched a new tool called Showcase that will let artists pay to promote their music to listeners on the platform’s Home feed. Artists can select a song or an entire album to appear as a mobile banner, which can be set to target a specific type of listener from 30 markets at launch. The banners will note that a recommendation has been sponsored.

Spotify gave us a sneak preview of Showcase at its Stream On event earlier this year as one of many new additions in a top-down revamp of its mobile app’s core homescreen. The rollout of Showcase began on Tuesday, and over the next few weeks, US artists with at least 1,000 streams in the last 28 days should see Showcase appear in the campaigns tab of Spotify for Artists.

The...

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Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s Stoner Cats NFTs must sober up, SEC orders

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis promoted the Stoner Cats NFTs. | Photo by Axelle / Bauer-Griffin / FilmMagic

The Stoner Cats NFTs, associated with a cartoon including the voice talent of Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, were actually unregistered securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today. The company behind the NFTs, called Stoner Cats 2, paid $1 million in fines and agreed to destroy all of the NFTs in its possession without admitting guilt.

This is the second action the SEC has taken against NFTs, and unlike the last one, it may have broad consequences for the industry. Between the two cases, the SEC is “drawing a picture where all NFTs are within their jurisdiction,” says Hermine Wong, the former head of policy at Coinbase and a former SEC regulator. The order is likely to have a chilling effect on the industry, she says.

“...

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How the new iPhone 15 models differ from one another (and the iPhone 14)

Every version of the iPhone 15 includes a brighter display and Apple’s Dynamic Island feature. | Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge

To the surprise of no one, Apple announced the new iPhone 15 during its Wonderlust event on Tuesday, introducing it alongside the new Apple Watch Series 9 and an updated pair of AirPods Pro that come with a USB-C charging case. That means, as of today, Apple’s iPhone lineup consists of the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max, as well as the last-gen iPhone 14, iPhone 13, and the third-gen iPhone SE. The iPhone 15 lineup won’t be available until September 22nd, but you can preorder the phones on September 15th, starting at $799.

Every phone in the new iPhone 15 lineup comes with a USB-C port and does away with the notch in favor of Apple’s Dynamic Island feature. Meanwhile, the more premium phones — specifically the iPhone 15 Pro...

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Google adds Prime Video and bunch of other stuff to cars with native Android software

Image: Polestar

More video streaming, weather, and web conferencing capabilities are coming to Android Auto and cars with Google built-in. And that includes digital key functions as well.

It’s a bit mix-and-match for this announcement. Android Auto users are getting some new stuff, Google built-in customers getting others, and a lot is dependent on which make and model you own. So bear with me here.

Web conferencing

Android Auto, the system that allows you to mirror your Android-powered smartphone on your car’s interior dash display, is getting some new web conferencing features. These include WebEx by Cisco and Zoom — but both are audio only. That means you can join your meetings from the road without being worried about how you appear or about being...

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Apple now finally sells USB-C EarPods

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Now that the iPhone has USB-C ports, Apple is selling wired EarPods with a USB-C connector that you can use with the new smartphones — and, thankfully, a bunch of Apple devices.

According to Apple’s page for the USB-C EarPods, they’ll work with iPhones, iPads, and Macs with USB-C ports; however, they’ll have to be on semi-recent operating systems to be compatible with the updated headphones. Specifically:

Mac models with USB-C running macOS Monterey 12.6 or later.

iPad models with USB-C running iPadOS 16.4 or later.

iPhone models with USB-C running iOS 17 or later.

While the software limitation is somewhat annoying, I’m still very happy to see that Apple has finally released a USB-C version of EarPods. Anytime I need to take a call on...

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Starfield has arrived on Nvidia’s GeForce Now — the most important cloud game yet

A screenshot from the video game Starfield_._ | Image: Bethesda Softworks

We’ve never seen a killer app for cloud gaming yet — but Starfield might be the next best thing. It has now arrived on Nvidia’s GeForce Now, the first cloud gaming service that might do it justice, and the only one with a completely free trial, no credit card required.

Both the Steam and Microsoft Store versions of Starfield are live right now. That means Xbox Game Pass subscribers don’t need to purchase a copy, and even if you’ve already started the game, your savegames should come along for the ride.

Why is Starfield such a big deal for cloud gaming? On PCs, the game is notoriously hard on both CPUs and GPUs and requires an SSD to play. It controversially didn’t launch with Nvidia’s frame rate-enhancing DLSS tech to ease the load,...

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California lawmaker proposes regulation of AI models

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A California lawmaker will file a bill seeking to make generative AI models more transparent and start a discussion in the state on how to regulate the technology.

Time reports that California Senator Scott Wiener (D) has drafted a bill requiring “frontier” model systems, usually classified as large language models, to meet transparency standards when they reach above a certain quantity of computing power. Wiener’s bill will also propose security measures so AI systems don’t “fall into the hands of foreign states” and tries to establish a state research center on AI outside of Big Tech.

The bill, which is classified as an intent bill and needs further development before it can pass, will also mandate AI labs to test models for safety...

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US Army orders more Microsoft AR headsets now that they no longer make soldiers want to barf

A previous IVAS prototype sent to the Army by Microsoft. | Image: US Army

The US Army is awarding Microsoft with another order of advanced mixed reality goggles designed for combat situations, Bloomberg reports. Microsoft had sent the Army a batch of 20 updated prototype headsets in late July, which were tested by two squads of soldiers in August who responded positively to improvements in its design: namely, they no longer felt nauseous and pained while wearing them.

Microsoft, in the past year, has worked with the US Army to create HoloLens-like mixed reality headsets known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), but initial reports in 2022 indicated it was causing headaches, nausea, and eyestrain in testing. The problematic headsets were part of an order of 5,000 headsets the Army started...

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TikTok has quietly been inserting Wikipedia snippets into search results

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok users — especially young people — are increasingly treating the app like a search engine to find everything from nearby restaurants to news. TikTok search results are, in turn, reflecting that shift.

We noticed this week that the app had quietly added Wikipedia snippets to some search result pages for people, places, and events. I found Wikipedia links within search results for The New York Times, Taylor Swift, and Thanksgiving, among others.

TikTok spokesperson Zachary Kizer confirmed to The Verge that the company is partnering with Wikipedia to bring information to users directly in-app. Kizer says the feature has been live for a few months, but it doesn’t appear the company formally announced it or that media had reported it...

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Samsung leaks the Galaxy Buds FE by posting their user manual

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

There has been a lot of smoke around the unannounced Samsung Galaxy Buds FE, but the company may have accidentally confirmed the existence of the wireless headphones by posting what appears to be their official user manual, as reported by WinFuture. The PDF is currently available at this link on Samsung’s website, but in case that gets taken down, I’ve embedded the PDF at the bottom of this article.

Looking inside the manual, the earbuds appear to take design some cues from other Samsung headphones, with features such as touchpads and attachable wingtips. Those features and design aren’t too surprising given the FE moniker, as Samsung typically uses FE for products that offer many features of its higher-end products at a lower price. (S...

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The Biden administration approves $100 million to fix the nation’s broken EV chargers

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

EV owners fed up with the often broken, discombobulated charging experience in the US are about to get a lifeline from the federal government.

The US Department of Transportation is authorizing $100 million to “repair and replace existing but non-operational, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.” The investment comes from a $7.5 billion pot of money for EV charging that was approved as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The department has already approved around $1 billion for the installation of thousands of new EV chargers along major highways in the US.

Broken EV chargers remain a major barrier to broader EV adoption. And it tends to mar the experience of owning an EV, as many EV owners told JD Power earlier...

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California passes right-to-repair act guaranteeing seven years of parts for your phone

California just passed a right-to-repair act in its state legislature — right in Big Tech’s backyard. | Image: Apple

California just became the third state to pass an electronics right-to-repair act. Senate Bill 244 passed in a 50–0 vote in the California state Assembly on September 12th. The bill also passed the California Senate back in May with a 38–0 vote. The bill is now headed for a final concurrence vote in the Senate before heading to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.

California now follows in the footsteps of Minnesota and New York. Both states approved similar right-to-repair legislation in the past year. However, the California bill stands out in that it requires companies to expand access to repair materials like parts, tools, documentation, and software for a longer period of time. The bill outlines three years for products costing...

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Google’s Pixel 7 Pro is matching its best price yet

Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are both on sale. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

All eyes may be on the new iPhone 15, but Android fans shouldn’t feel too left out as some of the best Android phones are also now on sale. Right now, you can buy the unlocked Google Pixel 7 Pro for $649 ($250 off) with 128GB of storage at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google, which matches its all-time low price.

Google’s premium phone has a spacious 6.7-inch screen with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate. It also boasts a faster processor than its predecessor and an all-day battery life. Plus, the phone takes some fantastic photos thanks to an impressive triple array camera system that includes a 48mp telephoto lens.

However, If you prefer something cheaper, the standard Google Pixel 7 with its smaller 6.3-inch screen is also on sale for around $449...

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How to control your Apple Watch hands-free with Assistive Touch

Assistive Touch is a new accessibility feature introduced in watchOS 8. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Starting with watchOS 8, Apple introduced a new accessibility feature called Assistive Touch. The cool thing about this feature is that it allows you to control the watch via gestures and your arm movements. Meaning, now you don’t even need to touch the Apple Watch screen to use it.

The tech behind it is pretty neat. Using on-device machine learning, the feature makes use of the watch’s accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart rate sensor to read how your muscles and tendons move. The result is that the watch can tell when you’re pinching your fingers or clenching your fists. You can also enable a motion-based cursor that works like a mini-mouse when you tilt your arm.

To be clear, Apple developed Assistive Touch to make the Apple...

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Starfield is getting DLSS, an FOV slider, and ultrawide monitor support

Image: Bethesda

Bethesda is planning to add Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technique to Starfield soon. It’s part of a bunch of promises for updates to the game, including brightness and contrast controls, an FOV slider, 32:9 ultrawide monitor support, and even an eat button for food.

Bethesda is releasing a small hotfix today to fix some bugs in the game before it dives into feature requests. “Our priority initially is making sure any top blocker bugs or stability issues are addressed, and adding quality-of-life features that many are asking for,” says Bethesda in patch notes released today. “This first update is a small hotfix targeted at the few top issues were are seeing.”

The first update includes improvements to Xbox Series X / S stability during...

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A key cold medicine ingredient is basically worthless

Cold medications on a shelf pictured in Miami, Florida, on September 12th, 2023. | Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images

The FDA’s 16-member advisory panel unanimously voted yesterday that oral phenylephrine, a common active ingredient in cold medications, is no better than a placebo for treating congestion. The call by the panel sets up potential FDA action that could force the removal of certain over-the-counter medications containing the ingredient — including certain formulations of Mucinex, Sudafed, Tylenol, and NyQuil — from store shelves.

As noted by The New York Times, the panel’s vote doesn’t necessarily mean the FDA will take action, but it usually follows panel recommendations. That said, the FDA may hold off for many months, pending contested findings by drug makers and other considerations.

The panel tossed out several older studies that...

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Artifact’s new Links feature makes it much more than a news app

The Links tab looks a lot like Instagram — but it’s not pictures, it’s links. (With pictures.) | Image: Artifact

Artifact, the algorithmic news-reading app started by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, was never really meant to just be a news-reading app. Systrom and Krieger have talked about their bigger idea being “TikTok for text,” but so far, all that has meant is a bunch of algorithmically ranked news articles with in-app comments sections. Artifact is a good news app, but that didn’t feel as big as TikTok.

With a new feature called Links, Artifact is getting a little closer to that vision. Links is a new section in the Artifact app, and it’s for far more than news. It’s for, well, links. You can post a link in Artifact to just about anything — an article, a video, a recipe, a real estate listing, a game where all you do is m...

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Netflix is kicking off Castlevania: Nocturne with a showcase of its other animated series

Annette in Castlevania: Nocturne. | Image: Netflix

With the debut of Netflix’s Castlevania: Nocturne spinoff series quickly approaching, it comes as little surprise that the streamer would want people making time to check out the original show. But rather than simply encouraging viewers to get all caught up on the Belmont clan’s adventures ahead of the new Castlevania show’s premiere, Netflix is gearing up for a massive showcase of all its animated offerings — one that’s probably meant to convince subscribers to stick around after Nocturne drops later this September.

Today, Netflix announced its plan to drum up even more excitement for Castlevania: Nocturne with its first Drop 01 virtual event — a digital showcase featuring advanced previews of the new show’s first three episodes, as...

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Here’s how Apple’s new iPhone 15 models compare to some of the best Android phones

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, which are now made of titanium chassis. | Photo by NIlay Patel / The Verge

Apple finally got with the program and put USB-C on its new iPhones, but how do they compare to Android phones from the likes of Samsung and Google, where USB-C is nothing but old hat?

The iPhone 15 and 15 Pro models Apple announced at its “Wonderlust” keynote have various other updates and niceties aside from a new port — like new cameras, Dynamic Islands up and down the line, Roadside Assistance through the satellite function, and an Action Button and lighter titanium build on the Pros — but these still look quite like iPhones until you plug in a charger. And just like many years prior, USB-C represents yet another iPhone adoption that Android phones have had for years.

So it’s a good opportunity to look at how the iPhone 15 and...

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Tesla unveils Powerwall 3, this time with a built-in solar inverter

Powerwall 3 could enable a much cleaner install for Tesla energy fans. | Image: Tesla

Tesla introduced its newest home battery backup system, the Powerwall 3, which comes with more power throughput and its own built-in solar inverter. The setup makes for a more vertically integrated home solar power installation for new setups compared to the Powerwall 2, which is just a battery.

Early details of the Powerwall 3 trickled out in April when we learned it’d come with an easier-to-install process. But the product is still similar to the existing Powerwall 2, starting with the squared-off slate design with a glossy white front. Battery capacity is still 13.5kWh, same as Powerwall 2. There’s now a “T” logo in the front instead of the spelled-out Tesla logo, and it seems to lack the more visually appealing black finishes on the...

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Xbox Game Pass Core is launching with 36 games this week

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold replacement, Xbox Game Pass Core, is launching tomorrow with 36 games in total. The Xbox maker originally announced Game Pass Core in July, promising more than 25 games. Microsoft is now revealing that the full list of 36 games includes Fallout 4, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Vampire Survivors, and more.

Xbox Game Pass Core launches tomorrow, September 14th, and existing Xbox Live Gold members will be automatically transferred across to the new subscription which is priced at the same rate of $9.99 per month (or $59.99 per year) as Xbox Live Gold.

Microsoft has discontinued its Games with Gold perk in favor of these 36 games that come bundled with the subscription. The list will be updated two to three times a...

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