Media mogul Byron Allen offers $10 billion to acquire ABC from Disney

Allen is set to appear on stage at the Code conference starting on September 26th. | Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images for Allen Media Group / The Weather Channel

Comedian and media mogul Byron Allen has reportedly made a $10 billion offer to acquire the ABC TV network, FX and National Geographic cable channels, and local stations from Walt Disney, according to a report from Bloomberg. The publication’s source claims that the offer is “preliminary and could change,” and that Allen would work with banks and private equity firms to finance the deal.

Disney has yet to publicly acknowledge Allen’s offer. In a statement published earlier this week, the company said it was “open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses” in response to rumors that it was in talks to sell the aforementioned properties to Nexstar Media Group. Bloomberg’s report claims that Allen may sell off...

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Apple to issue iPhone 12 software update in France to address radiation concerns

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple says it will release a software update for iPhone 12 owners in France, after regulators ordered a halt of sales of the phone over concerns the device was breaching strict radiation exposure limits.

“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators,” says Apple in a statement to Reuters. “We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France.”

French regulators ordered a ban of iPhone 12 models earlier this week after testing the handset and finding that its Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) — how much radio frequency is absorbed into a body from a device — exceeded European radiation exposure limits. Belgium said it would review the French findings, with Germany,...

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Today I learned this weird Windows keyboard shortcut opens LinkedIn

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Windows never ceases to amaze me. Last month I discovered for the first time that you could pause the Windows Task Manager by holding down the CTRL key and today I’ve stumbled on a special keyboard shortcut that lets you launch LinkedIn, Word, and a bunch of other Office apps.

If you’re running Windows try holding down CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + L. Then watch in bemusement as LinkedIn opens in your default browser. Windows watcher Paul Thurrott posted this bizarre keyboard shortcut on X (Twitter), noting that it’s an operating system hotkey.

So why does Windows even have this? It’s all part of the Office key that Microsoft introduced on some of its own keyboards a few years ago. The Office key replaced the usual right-hand Windows key,...

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Google won’t repair cracked Pixel Watch screens

Google currently offers no repairs for broken Pixel Watches. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

If you crack the screen on the Pixel Watch, getting it officially repaired by Google isn’t in the cards.

Several Pixel Watch owners have vented their frustrations about the inability to replace cracked screens, both on Reddit and in Google support forums. The Verge has also reviewed an official Google support chat from a reader who broke their Pixel Watch display after dropping the wearable. In it, a support representative states that Google “doesn’t have any repair centers or service centers” for the device.

“At this moment, we don’t have any repair option for the Google Pixel Watch. If your watch is damaged, you can contact the Google Pixel Watch Customer Support Team to check your replacement options,” Google spokesperson Bridget...

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The next emoji coming to your phone include head shakes and a phoenix

Emojipedia’s renderings of what some of the new emoji in Emoji 15.1 might look like. | Image: Emojipedia

There are new emoji on the way... eventually. As reported by Emojipedia, the Unicode Consortium has formally approved Emoji 15.1, meaning a batch of new emoji will appear on your devices at some point in the future.

There aren’t quite as many additions to the emoji lineup as there have been in previous releases. The brand new emoji are a head shaking horizontally, a head shaking vertically, a phoenix, a lime, a brown mushroom, and a broken chain, according to Emojipedia. There are also new emoji denoting different family sizes and a few versions of emoji you might be familiar with that will face different directions.

You can see the official accepted emoji on the Unicode Consortium website.

Unicode 15.1 and Emoji 15.1 have been...

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Threads now lets you quote posts on the web

Illustration: The Verge

I was thrilled when Threads finally launched on the web in August, but I quickly found that it was missing one important feature: you couldn’t quote posts, only repost them. (In X / Twitter lingo, that translates to quote tweet and retweet.) But that’s now changing, as Instagram Adam Mosseri said Thursday that quote posts on the web were rolled out this week.

To quote a post, just click the two arrows icon and then click the “quote” option.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

That quote button. Right there.

Mosseri also said that Threads users on mobile can follow a thread and get notifications on it. This feature apparently hasn’t rolled out for me on iOS — I can’t find it — but I expect I’ll get it soon...

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In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, you can’t use your old Remake save

Image: Square Enix

If you’ve poured dozens of hours into Final Fantasy VII Remake, that unfortunately won’t give you much of a leg up in the game’s sequel, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. As part of an interview about the new game posted on the PlayStation Blog, game director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed that you won’t be able to port over your Remake save or character builds into Rebirth.

Here’s the full question and answer:

Given this is a direct continuation Final Fantasy VII Remake, can players port over their save file and their character builds to continue their journey into Final Fantasy VII VII Rebirth?

Hamaguchi: We have announced that the Final Fantasy VII remake project will be a trilogy and that each entry will be a standalone game in its own right....

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Disney reportedly held talks about selling ABC

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Disney is in talks to sell off its ABC network and local TV stations, according to a report from Bloomberg. The entertainment giant reportedly met with Nexstar Media Group, which owns dozens of local news stations, to discuss a sale.

Disney’s response to the report is a denial that it has reached a deal to sell off ABC or any of its other linear properties. In a statement published on its website, the company says it’s “open to considering a variety of strategic options,” but it hasn’t made an official decision and that “any report to that effect is unfounded.”

Sources tell Bloomberg that the talks between Nexstar and Disney are still early and that a price hasn’t yet been named. Another source tells the outlet that Disney is also...

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Here’s a look at the expanded New York City in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Image: PlayStation

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will come with an even bigger map. The developers behind the sequel — Insomniac Games — have announced they’re “nearly doubling” the size of Marvel’s New York.

With the expanded map, you’ll get to swing your way past the East River and web your way across Queens and Brooklyn while completing story missions, side quests, and city activities along the way. There are also new “Web Wings” that help you get across the city faster.

You’ll also get to switch between playing as Peter Parker and Miles Morales “near-instantly,” with both characters having different side stories and quests. The game will feature 65 different suits, along with a new Suit Styles feature that lets you apply different color shaders for some...

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Netflix’s live-action One Piece to set sail with even more episodes

CASEY CRAFFORD/NETFLIX

Netflix’s live-action One Pieceadaptation is better than it has any business being, and the streamer intends to keep all of the first season’s good momentum going with even more episodes, according to Eiichiro Oda.

In a move that only comes as (a bit of) a surprise given how opaque Netflix likes to be about the logic behind its choice to cancel some shows just as they’re really taking off, Oda announced today that the live-action One Piece has been renewed for an unannounced number of new episodes / seasons. In an announcement video featuring one of One Piece’s transponder snails, Oda thanked fans, new and old, for supporting his work and said that “it’ll still take a while to get the scripts ready, so please be patient.”

“It seems...

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes out in February

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has a new trailer and a February release date. To close out a rather tame State of Play, Sony knew it had to bring out the big guns. So it did... with the Sister Ray.

Junon’s big ass gun was only one of the many new glimpses of the open world we got with FFVII: Rebirth’s new trailer. We also got a first look at Cosmo Canyon, Gold Saucer, and Cait Sith finally makes his appearance.

While FFVII: Remake and Rebirth diverge significantly from the story laid out in the original Final Fantasy VII, Rebirth looks like it’s still going to add a lot the side activities that made escaping Midgar on FFVII’s first disc so dang cool. Cloud’s zipping around Costa del Sol on a Segway, he’s playing fighting games in the Gold...

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Resident Evil 4 remake is getting its Separate Ways DLC on September 21st

Image: Capcom

Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 4 is getting its Separate Ways DLC starring Ada Wong very soon: it’s due out on September 21st.

The expansion allows you to play through sections of RE4’s story as fan-favorite character Ada Wong, seeing the suspenseful horror of the original game unfold through the supporting character’s perspective. Separate Ways first premiered when the original Resident Evil 4 came to PlayStation 2, further finding its way into later HD rereleases.

Launching alongside Separate Ways on the 21st is a free update to The Mercenaries time attack mode, featuring Ada Wong and Wesker.

Image: Capcom

Resident Evil 4 VR Mode on PlayStation VR2.

Also coming to PlayStation 5 is Resident Evil 4 VR Mode,...

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Why everyone in the podcast world is mad at Kast Media

This story originally appeared in Hot PodInsider_. Sign up for_ Hot Podhere.

Multiple creators who have left the podcast network Kast Media say the company owes them significant sums of money — amounting to six or seven figures for advertising sold on their shows. A few creators have gone public on social media, and others have individually confirmed to Hot Pod that the company has not paid them for several months.

Instead of making the delinquent payments, Kast CEO Colin Thomson formally or informally offered creators a deal where they would be paid a partial amount of the money owed in cash and the rest in shares of PodcastOne on the condition that they sign an agreement to take their podcasts to the new company as a part of a p...

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Surface Laptop Studio 2 leak: Intel 13th Gen, RTX 4060, and a microSD slot

Image: WinFuture.de

Microsoft is holding a special event in New York City next week, and it looks like one of the main unannounced Surface devices has just leaked. WinFuture reports that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be announced next week, with some welcome upgrades in the form of Intel 13th Gen processors, Nvidia’s RTX 4060 GPU, a microSD card slot, and a USB-A port.

It looks like the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will have a similar design to the original, with a display that pulls forward to transform from laptop to tablet (or what Microsoft calls studio mode). Microsoft appears to be addressing some of the pain points of the original model, with modern Intel 13th Gen processors inside, paired with a new microSD card slot and USB-A port.

...

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PlayStation State of Play September 2023: all the news and trailers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Sony’s September show may not be quite as big as Nintendo’s, but there will probably be some fun announcements in store.

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Windows 11 will let you copy text from your PC and Android screenshots soon

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Microsoft is overhauling its Snipping Tool and Photos app with useful features for copying text from screenshots and adding background blur to photos. Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels now have access to updated versions of the Snipping Tool and Photos apps for Windows 11.

The test version of the Snipping Tool now has a copy text feature that can detect text in screenshots and allow you to share the text in apps. It’s similar to the copy text from images feature found on modern Android phones or iOS devices, but Microsoft has added a feature that allows you to automatically redact and hide emails and phone numbers from images. You can also pick the text you want to redact before sharing a screenshot.

I...

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Don’t buy a Chromecast just to play PS5

PS Remote Play on Google’s Chromecast 4K. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

For years, Sony’s PS Remote Play app has been a neat way to sling your PS5 and PS4 games to another room of your house — with clients for PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and as of 2020, the PS4 itself. I’ve spent hours playing Yakuza and Genshin Impact from the unofficial Steam Deck version.

As of yesterday, it works on a $50 Google Chromecast, too! But I had a hell of a time finding and installing the app, and I suspect it won’t be a great experience for everyone.

Photo: Chris Welch / The Verge

This is the Chromecast you’re (maybe not) looking for.

The good news: it does work and work decently if you’ve got your PS5 plugged into your router with an ethernet cable. You can stream from a PS5 or a PS4 and play with...

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Disney, Hulu, and Paramount Plus are all discounted for a limited time

You can get three months of Disney Plus for a paltry $2 a month. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

It feels like every few months, another streaming service announces that it will be increasing its subscription rates. Paramount Plus and HBO Max have already done so this year, and Disney Plus and Hulu with Live TV are slated to follow suit next month with price hikes of their own.

Before you panic and hit “unsubscribe,” however, take a deep breath. As it turns out, some of these services are currently running a few promos, all of which can help you save some money on either a monthly or annual subscription. What’s more, some of these are available to both new and returning subscribers alike — a rarity in the streaming space.

To make life easier, we’ve rounded them all up so you can continue streaming your favorite shows while...

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X CEO Linda Yaccarino starts bringing in her executive team

Illustration: The Verge

X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced a series of changes to her executive team, including a shakeup to the company’s sales organization and a new head of content. The Verge has obtained Yaccarino’s full memo about the changes, which you can read at the end of this article.

Many of the executives Yaccarino is appointing have ties to the media industry, which isn’t surprising given Yaccarino’s past as an ad executive at NBCUniversal. Yaccarino officially started at the company in June after X — then Twitter — owner Elon Musk appointed her to the role in May. According to Musk, her focus will primarily be on “business operations,” while Musk will focus on “product design” and “new technology.”

For X’s new head of content, talent, and brand...

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Unity unites the indie game industry against its new pricing model

Image: Unity

The game engine popular with indie developers has caused a storm of controversy with its new pricing scheme that seeks to charge developers per installation of their games.

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The iPhone Mini’s long goodbye is complete — but it’s not all bad news

You were too good for this world, tiny iPhone. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Small phone fans — all 36 of us — experienced a major loss this week. The iPhone Mini is officially gone, taking with it the legacy of a truly small flagship smartphone. But it’s not all bad news. The 6.1-inch flagship phone seems to be here to stay, and sure, it’s no Mini, but it’s proving itself to be an entirely acceptable middle ground between tiny and gigantic.

The departure of the iPhone Mini was a drawn-out affair that started last year. Apple announced the iPhone 14 series with no successor to the 13 Mini. But the Mini stuck around through most of 2023 with the rest of the 13 series, and it was available new from Apple right up until Tuesday’s iPhone 15 announcement. Without a Mini in the 15 series — no surprise there — and the...

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X Premium subscribers can now hide the posts they’ve liked

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Paying subscribers to X — formerly Twitter — will now be able to hide their likes tab from public view, the company announced today. When enabled, the tab disappears completely from an X Premium user’s profile.

Private likes are the latest exclusive feature X owner Elon Musk has introduced for people who pay to use the platform. Musk has said in the past that he wanted likes to be private. The bookmarks feature available to all users could be used in a similar way if a user wanted to save things privately. A screenshot shared by the official X account suggests likes aren’t totally hidden — a Premium user’s likes are still visible on individual posts, according to the screenshot. It’s also not clear what would happen if a user ever...

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Hulu’s new top 15 row might make it easier to find something to watch

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Just like Netflix, Hulu will now show you a list of the most popular shows and movies on the platform. The new top 15 list will start appearing on the service today, with Hulu’s entire library of content eligible for inclusion.

Hulu will update its list every day between 2PM to 3PM ET. Netflix first rolled out a top 10 row in 2020, alongside its “Trending Now” and “Popular on Netflix” carousels that make it easier to spot binge-worthy shows. More streaming services have started to hop on the show- and movie-ranking bandwagon in recent weeks, as Max added a top 10 row last month, too.

Image: Hulu

Hulu’s top 15 list might finally make it easier to find stuff to watch on the platform.

In its post announcing the...

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Developers respond to Unity’s new pricing scheme

Unity

Earlier this week, Unity, the company that makes the Unity video game engine popular with indie developers, announced that it was changing its pricing model. The changes included a pricing scheme that sought to charge developers on a per-install basis for games that met specific download and revenue thresholds.

Unity wanted to charge developers for game installs without seemingly taking into account the many reasons a game might be installed without being purchased. Unity’s new model could theoretically result in situations where developers would be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees without the revenue to pay for it.

Once the news broke, the video game developer community reacted strongly and negatively to the...

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Bose just overhauled its entire lineup of headphones and earbuds

Image: Bose

Bose is introducing not one, not two, but three new products today. It’s an ambitious move from a company that’s traditionally been very calculated, and it points to a nimbler future for Bose that could see new devices brought to market at a faster clip. Today’s announcements include the $429 QuietComfort Ultra Headphones that I showed you last month alongside the $299 QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and $349 QuietComfort Headphones.

Each of them replaces a model in Bose’s current hardware portfolio. That’s surprising in the case of the earbuds; their expensive predecessors are only a year old. But speaking to media in Brooklyn today, CEO Lila Snyder and chief product officer Raza Haider said Bose had meaningful improvements ready to go and...

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Donald and Stephen Glover’s Lando Calrissian series is actually going to be a movie

Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. | Image: Lucasfilm

While Hollywood’s ongoing double labor strike has kept any substantive progress from being made on Donald and Stephen Glover’s forthcoming Lando Calrissian project, according to one half of the creative duo, a movie — not a Disney Plus series — is what fans have to look forward to.

During a recent appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, Stephen Glover couldn’t say all much about his and Donald’s Lando project, which the brothers reportedly signed onto before the writers and actors strike began earlier this year. But Stephen did reveal that, despite its initially being conceived as a series, the thing he and Donald (who’s set to star in as a younger Lando Calrissian) is actually going to be a feature-length film — one the pair is...

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Tesla’s new car-building process could be a huge industrial breakthrough

Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge

Tesla is closing in on a new manufacturing process that could significantly reduce costs and increase production of its electric vehicles. According to sources who spoke to Reuters, the new process will enable the automaker to die-cast almost the entire vehicle underbody as a single piece instead of building out about 400 parts using conventional car-building techniques.

Tesla’s current process to build its popular Model Y SUV already involves a unique use of massive, ultra-high pressure presses that can mold both the front and rear parts of the vehicle. Tesla calls this process “gigacasting,” which some experts say is already highly efficient and cost-effective compared to other automakers’ factories. But now Tesla is looking to up the...

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Meta’s Horizon Worlds social platform is finally coming to mobile and the web

Super Rumble on mobile. | Image: Meta

Meta is finally bringing Horizon Worlds out of virtual reality. The 3D social platform has previously been exclusive to its VR headsets, but Meta announced on Thursday that Horizon Worlds is starting to roll out on mobile and the web in early access.

“To start, a small number of people can now access Super Rumble through the Meta Quest app on Android, with iOS rolling out in the coming weeks,” Meta said. “Early access is also available on any web browser at horizon.meta.com.” (When I clicked that link, I was able to get on the waitlist.) The company promises that “as we roll out more worlds over the next few months, you’ll be able to hang out with friends, laugh it up at comedy shows, and enjoy free concerts and events from any...

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If NASA has to keep investigating UFO claims, it should get more budget for that

I would also like several million dollars to study UFOs, if we’re just flinging cash around. | Photo by Win McNamee / Getty Images

First of all, let’s be clear: NASA’s new report on so-called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) says there’s “no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin.” They’re going to create a director of UAP research anyway, just to get to the bottom of things.

UAPs, by the way, are the polite government name for what we normal people call UFOs, or unidentified flying objects. I don’t really have a problem with further investigations into UFOs — it seems like a nice jobs program for scientists. But let’s be clear about what’s happening here: this is a government agency that’s noticed UFO boosters are in Congress, and it wants some damn funding.

Why do I say that? Well, I read the report, and I noticed this tactful bit:

The...

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Unity cancels town hall over reported death threats

The Unity pricing debacle has taken an unfortunate, dangerous turn. In a new report from Bloomberg, the company has reportedly canceled a town hall meeting due to what the publication called credible death threats. According to Bloomberg, Unity CEO John Riccitiello was set to address employees Thursday morning, but the companywide meeting was canceled and two of Unity’s offices were closed because of the alleged threats.

Earlier this week, Unity, makers of a video game engine popular among indie developers, announced that it was making changes to its pricing model. In addition to charging yearly subscription fees, Unity is planning to implement a pay-per-install pricing scheme, charging developers each time a game is installed on a...

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