How to order free rapid covid tests from the US government — again

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

Autumn is here, and once again, warnings are going up about the spread of the covid-19 virus — along with the flu and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. To try to minimize the upsurge, the US government is once again restarting a program that was last canceled in May 2023 and is again offering free home rapid antigen tests to each US household. According to the government website, orders will start shipping the week of October 2nd.

As before, it’s extremely simple to put in your order. You will not need to submit a credit card or any other financial information.

• Go to COVIDTests.gov.
• Tap on the button reading Order Free At-Home Tests.
• If you don’t see the button for any reason, you can go directly to the USPS site (which is where...

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Why the First Amendment protects liars

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

How a tall tale from a California water official tested the Constitution’s limits.

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How Uber learned to stop fighting and play nice with taxis

Image: Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Former foes have turned friends. Uber is listing more and more taxi drivers in its app, most recently in Los Angeles. How did the two sides come together? In short, money.

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Mattel’s Pictionary Vs. AI leaves the guesswork to the bots

Why, that’s not a tiger at all, my gAI. | Image: Mattel

Mattel has announced Pictionary Vs. AI, a version of its visual guessing game where an AI model does all the guessing, using computer vision with a smartphone as the medium. The company just announced the game at the 2023 Code Conference, which is co-hosted by Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel. The physical board game will cost $24.99 starting on September 27th at Mattel’s website, and it will head to retail on October 2nd.

The idea is that players draw cards that assign a given word, then sketch whatever that word is before letting a web app guess what they’ve drawn. The app uses your camera to look at the artwork. You win (and move forward on the board) either when the AI identifies the image, or by successfully gambling — er, I mean,...

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EVgo is trying to turn around complaints about slow, broken EV chargers

Image: EVgo

Imagine buying a new car, and suddenly, most gas stations are broken. That’s a reality new electric vehicle owners are finding when it comes to EV charging stations supplied by significant players like ChargePoint, Electrify America, and EVgo.

Many stations often result in customers leaving without a recharge thanks to unreliable or damaged hardware, and the situation is growing worse over time. For some EV owners, it might feel like the companies behind the charging networks are asleep at the wheel. But occasionally they stick their heads up to let us know they realize there’s a problem, and they’re laboring to fix it.

Today, for example, EVgo says it’s made “significant progress” with a renewal campaign designed to boost reliability...

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Sony announces Olivia Rodrigo edition of its LinkBuds S earbuds

Image: Sony

Sony is releasing a custom pair of its LinkBuds S earbuds designed in collaboration with pop star Olivia Rodrigo. And the partnership goes beyond just style: this pair of the LinkBuds S will include two custom EQ modes that are optimized for each of Rodrigo’s albums, Sour and Guts.

These profiles were tuned by both Rodrigo and her producer Daniel Nigro and will be available within Sony’s Headphones Connect app when you pair the signature LinkBuds S over Bluetooth. There's nothing stopping you from using the custom EQ profiles with other content, but it'd probably be wiser to stick with Sony's other presets when doing so.

As for the outward design, both buds have a purple, marbled exterior — again, Sony claims styled by Rodrigo herself —...

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LG dives into the foldable laptop fray

The LG Gram Fold in its array of orientations. | Image: LG

Following the likes of Lenovo, Asus, and most recently HP, LG has announced a new laptop built around a single large foldable display. The device is called the LG Gram Fold, and it’ll be available to buy online in South Korea for 4.99 million won (around $3,697) from October 4th. An international release is yet to be announced.

Like previous foldable laptops, the LG Gram Fold can be used in a variety of different orientations. If you’re after a traditional laptop experience you can fold it upright and place a Bluetooth keyboard on its lower half to use the remaining part of its screen like a 12-inch laptop with a 3:2 aspect ratio. Or, if you ditch the physical keyboard, you can type on a virtual keyboard on the screen itself. Flattening...

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Techno-fixes to climate change aren’t living up to the hype

Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge

An updated road map for combating climate change pours cold water on the idea that unproven technologies can play a major role in averting disaster.

Today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) updated its road map for the energy sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It doubles down on the need to swiftly switch to renewable energy while minimizing the use of technologies that are still largely in demonstration and prototype phase today, including carbon capture and hydrogen fuels.

The IEA, initially created to safeguard the world’s oil supply, debuted its landmark road map in 2021 with a stark forecast for fossil fuels: calling for no more investment in new oil, gas, and coal projects. It laid out steps every...

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Valve suddenly says SteamVR 2.0 is now in beta — as headset rumors swirl

Half-Life: Alyx. | Image: Valve

Valve built up to virtual reality for a very long time — and never stopped, but it also seemed to slow its roll while nurturing the Steam Deck gaming handheld. But for weeks now, Valve sleuth Brad Lynch has been tracking changes to SteamVR that suggest the wheels are turning again — and today, now, ahead of a rumored standalone VR headset reveal, I’ve received word from Valve that the next version of SteamVR is basically here.

If you care about Valve’s mystery announcements, you’re probably hanging on every word, so I’m not going to leave any of them out. Here’s the whole email, as bolded by Valve:

Greetings! Today we are shipping SteamVR 2.0 in beta. We see this is as the first major step toward our goal of bringing all of what’s new...

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The DJI Mini 4 Pro is the first mini with binocular vision in every direction

Video by DJI / GIF by The Verge

Now that Skydio has exited the consumer drone business and will never sell me the miniature self-flying drone of my dreams, I’m looking to DJI instead. The fancy marketing for its just-announced $759 DJI Mini 4 Pro suggests we’re at least on the way — because it’s the first Mini with omnidirectional obstacle sensing.

Video by DJI / GIF by The Verge

“Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) ensures additional safety by enabling automatic braking and bypassing during flight,” the company’s website reads.

2022’s Mini 3 Pro could already see forwards, backwards, and down, but... we crashed it into a tree pretty fast. The binocular vision in every direction is a potentially huge upgrade if it works well, and the...

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YouTube is axing its ad-free Premium Lite subscription plan

Raise your hand if you never heard of YouTube Premium Lite but now wish it was available in your area. | Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

After YouTube spent two years piloting Premium Lite, a lower-cost subscription plan for ad-free video viewing in select countries, the platform is pulling the plug on the tier. In an email to customers, YouTube announced it will no longer offer Premium Lite after October 25th, 2023.

At €6.99 per month, YouTube’s Premium Lite plan first launched in select European countries in 2021, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. It offers ad-free viewing across YouTube’s spectrum of apps and formats but doesn’t come with Premium’s other features like offline downloads, background playback, or any YouTube Music benefits.

But soon, existing Premium Lite subscribers will be left with two options: go...

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Former Amazon hardware boss Dave Limp will take over as CEO of Blue Origin

Amazon’s former hardware boss Dave Limp will take on the role of CEO at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin after announcing his departure from Amazon, according to a report from CNBC. Internal documents obtained by the outlet reveal that Limp will replace outgoing Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith starting on December 4th.

In August, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that Limp is retiring from Amazon after an over 13-year career at the company. While at Amazon, he managed products like the company’s Echo Smart speakers and its Alexa smart assistant. He also managed Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite internet project. Limp will reportedly be replaced at Amazon by Panos Panay, former head of Windows and Surface products, who announced his own departure from...

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Gmail’s basic HTML view will go to the Google graveyard in 2024

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google will send Gmail’s basic HTML view sailing into the great beyond starting in January 2024, after which time everyone who uses it will be switched to the service’s far more modern “Standard” view. The change appears to have been announced around September 19th in a Google support article.

Though the vast majority of people use the Standard view on their PCs without question, the HTML version of Gmail has its perks. The stripped-down Gmail experience loads quickly, and users can access it even on very outdated machines or with much slower connections. Its leaner nature makes it useful in situations where the best you can muster is a 3G connection (3G died last year in the US, but still).

Screenshot: Wes Davis / The...

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Unity finally addressed developers’ biggest questions about its new pricing model

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

Unity executive Marc Whitten participated in a fireside chat that addressed the company’s new pricing program, the backlash it caused, and what it’s doing to win back developer trust.

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Facebook can be sued over biased ad algorithm, says court

Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge

Facebook can be sued over allegations that its advertising algorithm is discriminatory, a California state court of appeals ruled last week. The decision stems from a class action lawsuit filed against Facebook in 2020, which accused the company of not showing insurance ads to women and older people in violation of civil rights laws.

The case centers around Samantha Liapes, a 48-year-old woman who turned to Facebook to find an insurance provider. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook’s ad delivery system didn’t show Liapes ads for insurance due to her age and gender.

In a September 21st ruling, the appeals court reversed a previous decision that said Section 230 (which protects online platforms from legal liability if users post illegal...

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Nissan’s racy new EV concept previews an all-electric future in Europe

Nissan’s Concept 20-23. | Image: Nissan

Nissan is previewing a new sporty, Micro Machines-looking all-electric concept vehicle for Europe that signals its plans to go all-electric in the continent by 2030.

Designed by Nissan’s London design team, the non-production EV hatchback (called Concept 20-23) with circle daytime-running lights is compact — precisely like what you’d expect carmakers to make for the European market.

Under its “Ambition 2030” plan, Nissan says it’ll globally introduce 19 new electric vehicles alongside eight “electrified” vehicles. The automaker plans to fast-track the European market specifically, where it says a third of its global EV sales take place.

Nissan says it now only sells hybrid and electric models in Europe — including the “e-Power”...

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Festival movies you can stream from home very soon

Pain Hustlers. | Image: Brian Douglas / Netflix

Film festivals like TIFF are a great chance to get a sense of what’s coming to theaters in the coming months, but they’re also a good way to preview the upcoming streaming calendar. Last year in Toronto, for example, Netflix gave an early look at two of its biggest releases with both Wendell & Wild and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. This year was no different, with upcoming movies coming to Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV Plus all part of the program.

(The streamers also went shopping at TIFF, so there’s more on the way: Netflix acquired the rights to both Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour and Richard Linklater’s Hit Man during the festival.)

The good news is that you can stream a number of these movies from home very soon. Plan your...

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Tinder Select is a $499 per month plan for Tinder’s 1 percent

Illustration: The Verge

Tinder announced a $499 per month invite-only subscription, Tinder Select, on Friday, Bloomberg reports. As part of the premium plan, subscribers can message people they’ve not matched with, while the “most sought-after” users will see their profiles. Tinder says it only offers the plan to less than 1 percent of its users it considers “extremely active” and that the applications will open up on a rolling basis.

“We know that there is a subset of highly engaged and active users who prioritize more effective and efficient ways to find connections,” said Tinder’s chief product officer, Mark Van Ryswyk. “So we engaged in extensive tests and feedback with this audience over the past several months to develop a completely new offering.”

If...

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Know the price-matching policies for Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and others

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Nothing is more frustrating than buying a new pair of headphones, an OLED TV, or a backpack just to find out that you could have gotten it for a lot cheaper somewhere else. In order to keep customers happy — and prevent them from going elsewhere — many retailers offer price-matching policies where they promise to match a lower price you’ve found elsewhere. That’s information that could come in handy given Amazon’s second Prime Day event this year — aka Prime Big Deal Days — will take place on October 10th and 11th.

What follows are the price-matching policies for a variety of major retailers. There are a few things to make note of here. First, all price-matching policies have a number of rules attached to them. We’ve summarized some of...

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Rick and Morty sound pretty much just like they used to in new season 7 trailer

Rick, Summer, and Morty. | Image: Adult Swim

Adult Swim has been tight-lipped about its plans to keep Rick and Mortygoing following the scandal-related departure of series co-creator and star Justin Roiland earlier this year. For months, fans have wondered how the show might continue with its titular characters being voiced by someone else, and while Adult Swim hasn’t announced the new actors’ names just yet, Rick and Morty’s latest season 7 trailer makes it pretty clear the newcomers are up to the task.

Between the haunted jewelry, robot ghosts, and voracious inhalation of spaghetti, it’s difficult to tell just where Rick and Morty’s seventh season will pick up. What does jump out rather shockingly, though, is how Rick and Morty sound essentially the same as they did before the...

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Reddit is going to let you turn gold into money

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Reddit is going to let users spin Reddit gold into real money as part of its new “Contributor Program,” the company announced on Monday. It also shared details on the replacement for its old Reddit Gold system that let users show extra appreciation for posts or posts that they liked.

Let’s start with the Reddit Gold update since it’s a critical part of that Contributor Program. Under the new gold system, you can long-press an upvote button on mobile or hover over it on desktop to be able to buy gold. Reddit will offer six different purchase options for awarding gold, starting at a $1.99 option to buy one gold and going up to $49 for 25 gold. After you give your gold, you’ll see what Reddit calls a “golden upvote” next to the comment or...

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Apple’s discontinued MagSafe Duo charger is on sale for $35 off

The port on the MagSafe Duo itself is Lightning, which may not matter too much if you’re not traveling with the charger. | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

It’s officially autumn. The weather is starting to turn for many of us, and there are USB-C iPhones now out there in the world. The winds of change also mean there’s a nice deal to be had on one of Apple’s outgoing wireless chargers. You can get the Apple MagSafe Duo charger for an all-time low of $94.99 ($35 off) at Woot or for $1.75 more at Verizon.

Apple quickly and unceremoniously discontinued the MagSafe Duo along with the MagSafe Battery Pack immediately after announcing the iPhone 15, likely because both use Lightning ports. I’ll happily dance on the grave of the MagSafe Battery Pack, but the Duo — while flawed — actually has some redeeming qualities. The superthin, foldable charger can wirelessly charge a MagSafe iPhone at the...

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All the big tech events coming this fall

Image: Code

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.

September 26th marks Vox Media’s Code event, which includes Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel co-hosting alongside Platformer founder Casey Newton and CNBC senior media and tech correspondent Julia Boorstin. This year, Code features guests including X / Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, Allen Media Group CEO and founder Byron Allen, and more.

Also...

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The Action Button is the most significant new iPhone feature in years

So small, so powerful. | Image: Apple

The most significant new thing in the iPhone 15 Pro this year isn’t its lighter titanium frame, new A17 Pro processor, or its camera system (although all are appreciated).For me, it’s the Action Button: the little button above the volume keys that replaces the mute switch that had been on every iPhone since the very first one.

The Action Button is perhaps the biggest hardware upgrade the iPhone line has received in years. It’s not a particularly advanced piece of technology — it’s literally just a button — but its programmability lets you use your iPhone in completely new ways.

Apple showcased the Action Button in its announcement of the iPhone 15 Pro, and it was highlighted in many reviews that followed (including our own). But it...

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The Analogue Pocket is getting a delightful limited-edition transparent version

Image: Analogue

Another special edition of the Analogue Pocket handheld is on the way. Later this week, the company will be launching a new transparent version of the device, which will be available in seven different colors: clear, smoke, red, blue, orange, green, and purple.

Like the recent glow-in-the-dark version of the Pocket, Analogue says that the transparent handheld will only be available in “limited quantities.” It goes on sale on September 29th at 11AM ET on the company’s site and will cost $249, a slight bump from the base model’s $219 price tag. Units are expected to start shipping two weeks later.

Functionally, the transparent version is identical to the original — check out our review for more on what the Pocket can do — so the extra cost...

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Apple’s Eddy Cue will take the stand Tuesday in the Google antitrust case

Eddy Cue, left, with Apple CEO Tim Cook. | Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images

Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue is set to testify at the US v. Google antitrust trial on Tuesday, as the trial enters its third week. Cue’s presence, which Apple fought to avoid, underscores Apple’s importance to the Justice Department’s case against Google — which alleges that the company’s juggernaut search engine violates antitrust law. News of Cue’s scheduling was posted by Bloomberg’s Leah Nylen and Big Tech on Trial on X, formerly Twitter_._

Cue will be the second Apple executive to testify, following Apple AI head (and former Google executive) John Giannandrea on Thursday and Friday. Much of Giannandrea’s testimony, however, took place under wraps in a closed courtroom. It’s unknown how much of Cue’s testimony will...

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Leaked Pixel 8 Pro deal shows Google will throw in a Pixel Watch 2 for free

The Pixel Watch 2. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

Google will apparently give you a free Pixel Watch 2 if you preorder a Pixel 8 Pro, according to a promotional image posted by Kamila Wojciechowska. Wojciechowska also posted other leaks, including one published by 91mobileswith a promotional video that confirms previously rumored details about the Watch 2.

The deal might soften the blow of a rumored price hike for the Pixel 8 Pro that puts the new phone at a $999 starting price. The original Pixel Watch starts at $349.99 for the non-cellular version, making the Pixel 8 Pro effectively a $650 phone with this deal, assuming the 8 Pro price rumor is accurate. Wojciechowska posted a screenshot over the weekend suggesting that, at least for business customers, the Pixel 8 Pro might keep the...

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The high tech behind Netflix’s old-school DVD service

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

Over the last 25 years, Netflix shipped more than 5 billion DVDs to millions of subscribers. The disc-by-mail service, which is shutting down this Friday, owed its success to lots of behind-the-scenes innovation.

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The AI assistant revolution is more than 50 years in the making

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Today, we have ChatGPT, Bard, Alexa, Siri, and a thousand others. Nearly a half-century ago, there was GUS. GUS, which stood for the Genial Understander System, came out of a project at Xerox PARC in the 1970s that hoped to find ways to teach computers to understand human language.

Enterprising engineers, researchers, linguists, and even users have been longing for a way to talk to their computers pretty much since computers first became a thing. You shouldn’t have to communicate with your device by writing code, they figured, or by clicking in the right boxes in the right order. You should simply be able to talk to your computer like you’d talk to a person. Virtual assistants are a staple of science fiction, a decades-long startup...

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iFixit has good news and bad news about the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s repairability

Screenshot: iFixit via YouTube

While Apple may have made the iPhone 15 Pro Max easier to repair physically, a teardown from iFixit reveals it still comes with the same parts pairing constraints as its predecessors.

Like the iPhone 14, iFixit found that the iPhone 15 lineup has a redesigned midframe that you can access by removing the device’s screen or back glass. However, iFixit notes that the internals on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max live behind the screen, rather than the back glass, as is the case with the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus as well as the iPhone 14 lineup.

This inverted setup could make “critical repairs like battery swaps slightly riskier than on the 14,” iFixit says, as you’re “removing the expensive, fragile display rather than an inert sheet of...

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