Ember’s new temperature-controlled tumbler is its biggest and most expensive mug yet

Do you need this mug? No. But who cares. | Image: Ember

Both of the following things are true: $199.95 is a totally ludicrous price to pay for a mug, and Ember’s new Tumbler looks pretty great. The Tumbler is a 16-ounce black travel mug (the biggest one Ember has ever made) that claims to be able to keep your beverage at exactly the temperature you want it for hours at a time. It comes with two lids — a twist-off one with a handle and a sliding one with a mouthpiece — and Ember says it can handle even your rugged commuter lifestyle. The battery lasts three hours, and you charge it by placing the Tumbler on its charger / coaster accessory. It’s available for presale now and ships on September 22nd.

It’s a travel mug, is the long and short of it. A travel mug that pairs with an app that you can...

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Hades II will launch in early access in 2024

Image: Supergiant Games

We’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to play Hades II. The sequel to one of the best roguelikes out there will be launching in early access in Q2 2024, developer Supergiant Games announced on Thursday. You’ll be able to get the early access version through Steam or the Epic Games Store.

“You may be wondering, why can’t we launch in Early Access, like, right now?!” the developers wrote in a blog post. “The game looked pretty far along in the first trailer! The reason is, Hades II will have at least as much content from day one in Early Access as the original game did back when it launched in Early Access on Steam. And, even though Early Access inherently means a game is not yet complete, we still want to do everything we can to...

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TikTok is tracking its most popular songs with a Billboard top 50 chart

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

TikTok is partnering with Billboard to launch a top 50 chart that tracks the most popular songs on the platform. Topping the chart right now is Sexyy Red with “SkeeYee,” followed by Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” with Taylor Swift’s “August” taking third place.

TikTok and Billboard will measure the most popular songs on the platform by taking into account the number of videos made with the track, their views, and the amount of user engagement. The chart will only track trending TikTok songs in the US and will refresh every Thursday morning, marking the first “official” chart to monitor songs on the platform.

Image: TikTok

You can view the new top 50 chart by opening the TikTok app and pressing the round icon at the...

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Cruise unveils a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi, with plans to launch in 2024

Image: Cruise / Raymond Rudolph Photography

Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company backed by General Motors, revealed a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi that it says could start picking up disabled passengers as soon as next year.

The reveal of the newly accessible robotaxi is a major step toward fulfilling the dream of people with vision, hearing, and mobility impairments, who have long held out hope that autonomous vehicles represent a new way of getting around.

The vehicle is a version of Cruise’s fully driverless, shuttle-sized Origin vehicles, which lack traditional controls like steering wheel and pedals. It has been modified to include a retractable ramp, as well as added space inside and floor clamps for wheelchair users. The vehicle is the product of three years of...

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Cyberpunk 2077’s next major update launches very soon

Image: CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077’s Update 2.0 launches on September 21st, developer CD Projekt Red (CDPR) announced on Thursday. The new update will bring some major additions to the game, including redesigned perk and skill trees, vehicle combat and car chases, and a “revamped” police system.

The new perk and skill trees seem like they could have a huge effect on the game. “Our vision for this new system was to have fewer, but way more impactful, perks for players to choose from,” CDPR wrote in a blog post. “Instead of getting multiple low percentage increases to your damage, you will now get many opportunities to unlock completely different abilities that modify the way you play.” In a broadcast, CDPR developers showed off a few builds they liked,...

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Chromebooks will soon get 10 years of automatic updates

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Google announced a big change to Chromebooks that could help them last a few years longer. Starting in 2024, ChromeOS devices will be eligible to receive automatic security updates for 10 years after their release. Chromebooks released in 2021 or later will all receive the updates; those who own older products will have the option to turn them on.

The company currently guarantees eight years of automatic updates to Chromebooks. That period, however, begins at the time when the company certifies a Chromebook, not when it’s actually in the owner’s hands. Because of the time it takes schools and businesses to purchase, receive, set up, and deploy new fleets of computers, they commonly end up getting four to five years of use out of them in...

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Three classic Tomb Raider games are launching on the Switch

Nintendo / Aspyr

If you’re a fan of the classic Tomb Raider series, today’s Nintendo Direct had something special for you. Lara Croft makes her triumphant return to the console with a remaster of her first three games in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft.

The three games are all coming to the Switch with improved graphics and, hopefully, improved control schemes. Lara Croft’s classic trilogy has been rereleased on PC and mobile, but the PC release suffered from lackluster controls that made it difficult to raid tombs properly.

If you’ve only experienced Tomb Raider through the more recent Square Enix reboots, you’re in for a treat. The original Tomb Raider games had every bit of the action, platforming, and puzzle solving as its...

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Another Code remakes are coming to the Nintendo Switch in January

Image: Nintendo

Nintendo is giving Another Code: Trace Memory and its sequel, Another Code: R, a remake for the Switch. Both games will return “fully enhanced” as part of the Another Code: Recollection bundle that will release on Nintendo Switch on January 19th, 2024.

Another Code: Trace Memory first launched as a point-and-click adventure on the Nintendo DS in 2005. It follows 13-year-old Ashley Mizuki Robbins as she searches for her father on Blood Edward Island, with the DS version prompting you to complete puzzles along the way using the handheld’s touchscreen.

Its sequel, Another Code: R, came out on the Wii in 2009 but was never released in North America. The sequel takes place two years after the events of the original game and has Robbins...

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League of Legends’ Song of Nunu spinoff gets a release date

Image: Riot Games

Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story finally has a release date. The League spinoff arrives on PC and Nintendo Switch on November 1st, with preorders starting today.

The game follows Nunu and his Yeti friend Willump as they sled, hike, and climb their way through the frozen Freljord landscape. During the game, you’ll encounter other League champions, like Braun (who you can see in the trailer), Ornn, and Volibear. There’s also Lissandra “whose twisted magic threatens to bury the world in Dark Ice.”

While the story-driven title was initially set to come out last year, Riot Forge, the game publisher owned by League developer Riot Games, pushed back its launch date until 2023 to “put on some finishing touches.”

You can preorder Song of...

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The Nintendo Museum will be finished by March

Nintendo Museum rendering | Image: Nintendo

During its September Direct event, Nintendo announced progress on plans to convert its old Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant in Kyoto, Japan, into a gallery displaying its various products. Dubbed the Nintendo Museum, the site is under construction and on track to finish by March 2024. However, an exact opening date hasn’t been announced yet.

Other than the concept rendering from its original announcement in 2021, Nintendo showed off an iconic question block that’s painted on the building’s roof, and from the air, you can get an idea of how it will line up with the planned design, at least from the outside.

Image: Nintendo

Nintendo Museum shown from the air.

As far as what’s inside, we’ll have to wait until closer to...

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F-Zero returns to the Switch in F-Zero 99

Nintendo

Did you know there was a time when Nintendo had more than one racing game? With today’s Nintendo Direct, now you do. F-Zero, after an almost 20-year hiatus, is back with a new online multiplayer battle royale game, F-Zero 99.

F-Zero 99, like Super Mario Bros. 35, Pac-Man 99, and Tetris 99 before it, is a battle royale game in which you and up to 98 other players race to be the last Captain Falcon standing. F-Zero 99 will feature all the carts and tracks from the original F-Zero game and is available for free to those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

F-Zero debuted back in 1990 on the Super Nintendo. It was a hyper-futuristic racing game that was apparently one of the “fastest” available. The last time an F-Zero game graced a...

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Nintendo is remaking Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Switch

Image: Nintendo

Paper Mario is back! At its September 2023 Nintendo Direct, the company announced a remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the beloved RPG that first came out for the GameCube. The game is set to come out sometime in 2024.

It looks incredible in large part thanks to the game’s original paper and cardboard art design holding up remarkably well. But there have clearly been some graphical enhancements to make the game look even better on Nintendo’s Switch hardware. In Nintendo’s trailer, characters in particular looked really impressive: to me, they actually seemed like they’re cardboard cutouts come to life. The remake also looks to be incredibly faithful to the original game, as the trailer is packed with iconic moments that I...

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Trombone Champ is tooting its way to Nintendo Switch with four-player co-op

The toot-tacular indie darling Trombone Champ is releasing on Thursday on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Announced during Thursday’s September Nintendo Direct, last year’s hilarious music rhythm game that was a sleeper hit on Steam is making the move to Nintendo Switch. The game also has new control schemes just for the Switch, allowing you to use the Joy-Con controllers’ motion or IR sensors to control your trombone pitch.

While the hilarious sound of these trombones may be calamitous enough, Trombone Champ on Switch is also getting four-player local multiplayer support — which, I can only imagine how ridiculous that may get in a living room full of people.

You probably won’t be able to add all kinds of wacky songs via mod support like you...

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Splatoon 3’s single-player expansion launches in 2024

Image: Nintendo

Splatoon 3’s expansion pass is getting a new single-player campaign. The DLC, called Side Order, comes out in spring 2024 and is designed to “be replayed over and over,” according to Nintendo.

The new DLC invites you to see what has happened to Inkopolis Square, the city featured in Splatoon 2. As you traverse the Spire of Order, you can continue to level up your abilities by adding upgrades to run speed, splash damage, and more. The new mode also features damage counters that appear when you splat your enemies, which seem a bit distracting at first glance.

After launching Splatoon 3 last September, Nintendo launched the first part of its expansion pass in February, which allows you to return to Inkopolis Plaza from the first Splatoon g...

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Mario and Donkey Kong face off in Game Boy Advance remake

Nintendo

He’s the leader of the bunch; you know him well. He’s finally back to kick some Mario tail in Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong seems to be a remake of the 2004 Game Boy Advance game. In it, Mario must complete a series of platforming puzzles to reach Donkey Kong and thwart his theft of windup Mario toys.

Though it seems like an out-of-the-blue announcement, we did have some hints that a new Donkey Kong game of some stripe was coming. Pyoro, a prolific (and often accurate) Nintendo leaker, started dropping hints earlier this month that a DK game would be announced at this Direct.

pic.twitter.com/qMW86bL92Z

— Pyoro (@Pyoro_X) September 8, 2023

Turns out, they were right again, with their clever hint accurately predicting...

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Princess Peach: Showtime! debuts on Nintendo Switch next year

Image: Nintendo

Earlier this year, Nintendo teased that it had a Princess Peach game in the works. With Thursday’s September Nintendo Direct, we finally know more about the game, which is officially titled Princess Peach: Showtime!

Peach will be able to put on different outfits to transform into new versions of Peach with different powers, like Detective Peach and Kung-Fu Peach. During the Direct, Nintendo hinted that there were more transformations than what was shown, so I bet there are some fun surprises in store. The game is scheduled to release on March 22nd, 2024.

Princess Peach has been a playable character in numerous Super Mario games going all the way back to the ’80s. Though her initial appearance in the Mario series cast her as the damsel in...

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Samsung’s new Tab S9 tablet comes with a free storage upgrade and $100 Amazon gift card

Yes, the stylus is included. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

The tablet space may be dominated by iPads and cheap slabs from Amazon’s Fire line, but Samsung’s recently revamped Tab S9s make the case for Android tablets, with the most widely appealing one on sale today. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 with 256GB of storage is selling for $799.99 ($120 off) at Amazon, and it comes with a free $100 Amazon digital gift card. Once you spend that credit, it’s like you’ve saved $220 on a very good 11-inch tablet with an excellent 120Hz refreshing OLED display.

The Tab S9 has some nice specs that may sound similar to the highest-end Galaxy S23 Ultra phone, including a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, 12GB of RAM, and IP68 water resistance. It also includes the S Pen stylus, allowing you to do a variety of tablet-y...

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Nintendo Direct September 2023: all the news and trailers

Maybe we’ll get another glimpse of Super Mario Bros. Wonder_._ | Image: Nintendo

Nintendo is going to share ‘roughly’ 40 minutes of information about games coming to Switch this winter.

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‘Bodies on the line’: why climate protesters risked arrest to block BlackRock

NYPD officers arrested protesters who gathered outside BlackRock headquarters in Manhattan on September 13th, 2023. | Photo by Justine Calma / The Verge

Demonstrators blocked traffic outside the entrance to BlackRock headquarters ahead of a key climate summit in New York City.

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Here’s why Apple put a Thread radio in the iPhone 15 Pro

Apple added Thread, a smart home networking protocol, to its iPhone 15 Pro line. | Image: Apple

Following Apple’s iPhone 15 announcement and the news that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will come with a Thread radio, I did some more digging into how Apple might deploy this wireless connectivity protocol in its ecosystem.

The smart home is the obvious answer and the one Apple halfheartedly offered (Thread is a main protocol for Matter). But adding the low-power, low-bandwidth, mesh-based Thread protocol could also signal the company is moving away from relying solely on Bluetooth for connecting to peripherals like the Apple Watch. Here’s a look at some of the ways that new wireless connectivity could be put to use.

The iPhone could be a Thread border router, but it probably shouldn’t be

The obvious use for Thread in the iPhone is as...

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Twelve South’s new HiRise 3 Deluxe is for StandBy Mode and charging all your Apple stuff

The HiRise 3 Deluxe doesn’t take up much room on your desk and gets rid of a bunch of charging cable clutter. | TwelveSouth

Apple-focused accessory maker Twelve South has updated its venerable HiRise charging stand with built-in MagSafe and spots to charge your Apple Watch and AirPods. The new HiRise 3 Deluxe is a desk or nightstand charger that supports the new StandBy Mode in iOS 17, which can display widgets of information when your phone is placed horizontally on the charging pad. Official MagSafe certification means this stand will charge your iPhone at up to 15W, while also featuring fast charging for the Apple Watch (on Series 7 or newer and Ultra or Ultra 2 watches). There’s also a spot in the back for your AirPods to charge on, making it a one stop shop for all of your Apple stuff. The HiRise 3 Deluxe sells for $149.99.

While there are many 3-in-1...

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Honda’s Motocompacto scooter will satisfy your secret desire to ride an electric suitcase to work

Image: Honda

In the vast realm of last-mile electric micromobility, Honda’s new Motocompacto aims to bridge the divide between scooter lovers and people who prefer to get around riding a carry-on-sized suitcase.

I’m joking, of course, but the new scooter does have the appearance of that, or maybe it looks more like an oversized AirPods case. At 41.3lbs, the Motocompacto is probably on the heavier side for electric scooters, but for suitcases, it may be in the sweet spot. With a top speed of 15mph, a maximum range of 12 miles, and a peak output of 490 watts, the delightfully square-shaped two-wheeler is billed as a first- and last-mile solution “designed for the new realities of urban mobility.”

It’s also designed as an homage to Honda’s gas-powered...

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Rumors of Lightning’s death are just slightly exaggerated

The lightning cable is on its way out. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

This week, Apple confirmed longstanding rumors that it was finally abandoning the Lightning connector for USB-C with the debut of its iPhone 15 and 15 Pro phones. The connector’s decade-long run might be over, but that doesn’t mean you need to toss out all your Lightning cables — not yet, anyway.

There are still a number of products in Apple’s vast catalog that haven’t made the switch, and it’s a safe bet that many of them are due for USB-C refreshes in the near future. Here’s a list of everything still using Lightning that we could find new on the company’s online store.

The Magic Keyboard

Image: Wes Davis / The Verge

The Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.

The standalone Magic Keyboard has been more or less the...

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The ‘Big Three’ autoworkers are about to go on strike — here’s what’s at stake

Image: Getty Images

Strike fever is about to sweep through the nation’s auto industry, with the United Auto Workers preparing to walk off the job on September 14th if the “Big Three” automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis — don’t agree to the union’s demands for pay increases, shorter working days, and stronger pensions.

A simultaneous strike of all three major automakers has never happened, but it has been brewing since at least the Great Recession of 2008 when union workers agreed to major concessions in their contract to help keep the car companies from filing Chapter 11. Still, a strike could significantly impact the US economy and could trigger a rise in car prices. The union says the cost of not doing a strike...

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How to watch the September 2023 Nintendo Direct

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

It’s almost time for the third major Nintendo Direct of 2023. It’s set to be a big one, as Nintendo promises that the livestream will feature “roughly 40 minutes of information” focused on the Nintendo Switch games set to release this winter.

Nintendo already has a packed lineup through the rest of the year, so we’ll probably get looks at games like Detective Pikachu Returns (October 6th), Super Mario Bros. Wonder (October 20th), WarioWare: Move It! (November 3rd), and the remake of Super Mario RPG (November 17th). Maybe we’ll get some information about the new game starring Peach that’s scheduled to launch next year. But don’t hold your breath for DLC news for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The September 2023 Nintendo Direct...

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The HP Spectre Fold is the world’s thinnest 17-inch foldable PC

A Spectre with a kickstand. | Image: HP

Over the past few years, companies across the PC space have been engaged in a slow, but steady race to build a foldable laptop that people might actually want to buy. Various companies have thrown their hats in the ring. Lenovo has done a foldable ThinkPad. Asus did a foldable Zenbook. And HP, not to be left out, is giving a foldable the old college try with its HP Spectre Fold.

The Spectre Fold, HP claims, is the world’s thinnest and smallest 17-inch foldable PC. The competition is not necessarily particularly steep here — there are very few of these 17-inch foldables on the market — but it does appear to weigh in at just under three pounds, which is an impressively low weight for a 17-inch device.

Now, in case you were thinking of...

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Bike tires made from NASA’s bizarre shape-shifting metal are now available to buy

A green prototype of the METL tire with the tread applied. You can see the coil of nitinol through the transparent tire. | Image: The Smart Tire Company

The Metl bicycle tire is the first consumer product we’re aware of to use nitinol, a NASA-developed shape-memory alloy made of nickel and titanium that can be trained with heat to remember its shape. Compared with traditional bicycle tires, Metl tires will never go flat and will last a lifetime — at least that’s the promise made by The Smart Tire Company, the former Shark Tank contestants now hailing from Akron, Ohio, which is also home to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

Just be careful: the tires are being sold via a crowdfunded campaign on Kickstarter and that brings along risk, which I’d rate as high for something as cutting edge as this from a small startup.

You’re also looking at a pledge of $500 for a pair of blue or clear...

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Google Pixel Tablet parts and repair guides now available from iFixit

It’s now easier for Pixel Tablet owners to replace their device's battery, screens, and other components. | Image: iFixit

It’s now easier for Google Pixel Tablet owners to repair their own device, thanks to the partnership between Google and right-to-repair champions iFixit. As spotted by 9to5Google, genuine Pixel Tablet parts are now available to purchase on iFixit’s website, alongside user repair guides that walk you through how to install various components.

A rear case replacement is available for $199.99, which includes the Pixel Tablet’s volume controls, antennas, power button (including fingerprint unlock), and three microphones. There’s no option to select a color preference, however, so users may be limited to the off-white “porcelain” option displayed on the webpage. iFixit is also selling a replacement USB-C charging port for $24.99, a battery...

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Monster Hunter Now strips the MonHun experience down to its very basics

Image: Niantic

There are few game titles more literal than Monster Hunter. This is a world filled with monsters, and your job is to hunt them. But what makes the series so engrossing is the gameplay loop tied to those hunts: the way you prepare by collecting the right gear, weapons, and potions; how you spend time studying your target before heading into battle; and finally, using the downed monster to craft better gear so you can take on even more challenging beasts. It’s a long and involved process but also one that feels so satisfying when you pull it off.

Monster Hunter Now, a collaboration between Capcom and Pokémon Go developer Niantic, attempts to take that formula and streamline it into something that works in short bursts on your phone. In a...

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Starfield on GeForce Now is among the best and worst ways to play

Starfield_’s New Atlantis._ | Image: Bethesda

I’m not ready to upgrade my PC. Would I pay $20 a month to rent one that lives in the cloud? Starfield is the first game that’s actually making me consider the possibility.

Today, Starfield arrived on Nvidia’s GeForce Now, a service that lets you tap into an RTX 4080-equivalent GPU, and I spent a little time benchmarking the hard-to-run game. It absolutely looks and plays better than it did on my aging 1440p desktop, and looks great handheld.

Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

This reads 56 fps, but I saw as low as 47 fps when turning around at this spot. Click for larger image.

It’s not a silver bullet. I currently have wired gigabit fiber optic internet and live only a few towns over from Nvidia’s...

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