K-pop group NewJeans will perform this year’s League of Legends Worlds anthem

Photo by Gary Miller / FilmMagic

The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is taking place in Korea this year, and to celebrate, Riot has tapped one of the country’s hottest bands to perform the annual anthem. Girl group NewJeans — best known for earworms like “Super Shy” — will be behind the new song. It’s called “Gods” and is set to be released on the evening of October 3rd.

Riot is no stranger to working with big artists for musical collaborations, having partnered with the likes of Imagine Dragons and Porter Robinson in the past; last year’s Worlds anthem was courtesy of Lil Nas X, who also performed at the event’s opening ceremony in San Francisco. The songs typically have an epic feel meant to hype up the event, making NewJeans — with their purposefully...

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Eufy’s latest security package can track one person across multiple cameras

The $219.99 Floodlight Cam E340 is one of four new Eufy security cameras equipped with a dual-camera system. | Image: Eufy

Anker’s smart home brand Eufy is revamping its camera lineup with a new SoloCam battery-powered outdoor camera ($199.99), Floodlight Cam E340 ($219.99), Video Doorbell E340 ($179.99), and Indoor Cam S350.

The signature hardware feature of the new line is its dual lenses — with one camera that’s wide angle and one telephoto for zooming in to better identify faces and license plates. But there’s also a new standout ability: cross-camera tracking and video splicing.

Source: Eufy, GIF by Umar Shakir / The Verge

Multiple cameras tracked this Amazon delivery worker from the vehicle to the gate, and Eufy outputs a spliced video for you to watch.

“This technology is taken from the banking and traffic industry,” Eufy...

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Apple and Google want to shift how you listen to podcasts

Image: Apple

This is Hot Pod_,_ The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.

Hello Hot Podders, Amrita and Ariel here! Today we’re bringing you a co-bylined issue of the newsletter, mostly out of necessity. We’ve got a whole mess of news to dive into: Apple takes a big(ish) step toward integrating its audio apps, Google Podcasts is defeated by YouTube Music, and Spotify launches a new AI tool for podcasters.

Google Podcasts is dead, long live YouTube Music

Well, this was predictable. Tuesday morning, YouTube announced that it will be sunsetting Google Podcasts as it increases its focus on making YouTube Music a podcast destination. The app will be discontinued next year.

“As part of this process, we’ll be...

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The Code Conference 2023

Image: Code

We’re live from the Code Conference, featuring interviews with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and more.

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Peloton co-founder Tom Cortese is stepping down

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Tom Cortese, Peloton co-founder and chief product officer, is stepping down from his role. In a press release shared on Tuesday, Peloton says it will replace Cortese with former Twitter executive Nick Caldwell.

“After nearly 12 years of pouring myself into Peloton and serving our Members, I have decided it is time to move on and create space for new perspectives,” Cortese says. “I’m eager for new growth for Peloton and for me personally, but I’m also excited to support and watch this next phase of Peloton’s evolution.”

Cortese isn’t leaving the company completely. Peloton says he’ll enter an advisory role on November 1st to “support its vision and growth.” Cortese has held a pivotal role at Peloton, where he led the company’s development...

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The Quest 3 is Meta’s last chance to win the headset war before it truly begins

The Quest 2 versus the Quest 3. | Image: Meta

Meta doesn’t just need another hardware building block — it needs games.

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Nothing launches a smartwatch and earbuds that cost less than $120 combined

Image: CMF

CMF, the affordability-focused brand owned by Nothing, has launched its first line of products: the Buds Pro, Watch Pro, and a 65W GaN fast charger.

The Buds Pro are a pair of wireless earbuds that offer a solid set of features at a £49 / $49 price tag. The buds come with hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) that uses microphones on the inside and outside of the bud to detect and cancel out noise with a depth of up to 45dB.

Image: CMF

The earbuds also feature transparency mode, which lets you hear the sounds around you in case you want to stay aware of your environment. With noise cancellation switched off, the Buds Pro should offer up to 11 hours of playback on a single charge (or up to 39 hours with the case)....

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Newegg now takes GPU trade-ins

Newegg’s caption for this photo was “Joseph Olmedo of Newegg examines a graphics card to determine its condition.” Joseph, you’re doing great, man. | Image: Newegg

Newegg will now take your old GPU off your hands in exchange for a trade-in credit on a new one. The Newegg Trade-In Program, which soft-launched earlier this month but was officially announced today, gives you a modest bit of cash back on your new GPU and Newegg a steady stream of cards to refurbish and resell.

Estimated trade-in values range from $30 for a 4GB AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT all the way up to $561 for an Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti 24GB. You check your trade-in value by clicking the big ol’ “Check Your Trade-In Value” button on the product page for a GPU and selecting your card from a drop-down menu. Despite the “GeForce GTX” card in the photo above, Newegg won’t take cards older than the AMD RX 5000 series (launched in July 2019) or...

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FCC announces plans to resurrect net neutrality rules

Photo by Steven Ferdman / Getty Images

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced plans to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules meant to guarantee fair access to the internet and its information, five years after they were repealed by then-president Donald Trump in 2018.

Previous net neutrality rules adopted in 2015 classified broadband service under public utility rules and prevented internet service providers from blocking websites, throttling traffic, or charging more for faster access to certain services. According to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, the commission is expected to conduct an initial vote on reinstating these rules next month during an October 19th meeting.

“Net neutrality is one of the most widely discussed issues in telecommunications...

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Apple’s Studio Display gets manual controls for its webcam

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Apple just released macOS Sonoma, and along with the new 14.0 version of its operating system, there’s an update for its standalone Studio Display monitor that addresses some of our issues with its much-derided webcam (via MacRumors). Now, the Studio Display’s camera offers manual control over framing and zoom, which you can adjust by moving the image back and forth or in and out within the video preview window.

From Apple’s update notes:

Studio Display Firmware Update 17

Adds support for zoom, recenter, and manual framing to the built-in camera

Minor stability improvements

If you move too far one way or another, there’s a Recenter button to take things back to the default. The updated controls are also available if you’re using an...

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Logitech now sells a $299 folding chair

In the end, you’ve got yourself a folding chair. | Image: Logitech

Logitech’s gaming division, Logitech G, has teamed up with gaming chair company Playseat to make a fancy foldable racing sim cockpit chair that can be stowed in your closet when not in use. At $299, this budget option to get your race on at home is still pretty steep, but it’s cheaper than the companies’ last collab, and it’s foldable.

The Playseat Challenge X – Logitech G Edition looks nearly identical to the non-collab Playseat Challenge Black Actifit, which is about $70 cheaper. The Logitech version does come with a gear shift mount, which is an optional extra on the non-collab version, as well as a tilting pedal mount that doesn’t appear to be on the regular Challenge. The Logitech version also has an extra handle to easily adjust...

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15 incredibly useful Windows 11 keyboard shortcuts

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Getting around Windows 11 is a lot easier if you know a keyboard shortcut or five. You can then speed through tasks and across apps without having to fumble around for the mouse and trackpad (or even take your eyes off the screen).

These are some of my favorites that I turn to again and again on a daily basis. From helping you go between apps more quickly to navigating your system, there should be at least something here for everyone.

Get a closer look

Need to see something on-screen at a larger scale? Hold down the Win key and then tap + (the plus key) to launch the Magnifier utility. You can then tap the same shortcut again to carry on zooming in or use Win and - (the minus key) to zoom out.

See apps across desktops

Windows 11 lets you...

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Apple releases macOS Sonoma, with iOS-like widgets and Game Mode

macOS Sonoma brings the iOS lock screen to the Mac. | Screenshot: Monica Chin / The Verge

Apple injects a little more iOS into the Mac today as it releases macOS Sonoma, aka macOS 14.0. Sonoma brings with it features like persistent desktop widgets, a new iOS-style lock screen, and a game mode that promises better gaming on your Mac. The file clocks in at 7.7GB for us, so you’ll want to make sure you have a little space to get it in.

In a refreshing change, the Sonoma update is out just over a week after Apple dropped iOS 17. The new version of the iPhone operating system hit, as always, very soon after its iPhone 15 event earlier this month, but the company usually takes about a month longer to get its next macOS version out the door. That can make for a sometimes frustrating dissonance given Apple’s ecosystem interplay, for...

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Apple defends Google Search deal in court: ‘There wasn’t a valid alternative’

Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Eddy Cue, in a dark suit, peered down at the monitor in front of him. The screens in the Washington, DC, courtroom had briefly malfunctioned and left witnesses with only binders, but now the tech was up and running — showing an image of three iPhones, each demonstrating a part of the phone’s setup process. Cue squinted down at the screen.

“The resolution on this is terrible,” he said. “You should get a Mac.” That got some laughs in an otherwise staid and quiet courtroom. Judge Amit Mehta, presiding over the case, leaned into his microphone and responded, “If Apple would like to make a donation…” That got even bigger laughs. Then everybody got back down to business.

Cue was on the stand as a witness in US v. Google, the landmark antitrust...

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Windows 11’s next big update is now available with Copilot, AI-powered Paint, and more

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Microsoft is releasing one of its biggest updates to Windows 11 today. It includes access to the new Windows Copilot, AI-powered updates to Paint, Snipping Tool, and Photos, RGB lighting support, a modernized File Explorer, and much more.

Windows Copilot is the big new feature for this Windows 11 update, bringing the same Bing Chat feature straight to the Windows 11 desktop. It appears as a sidebar in Windows 11, allowing you to control settings on a PC, launch apps, or simply answer queries. Microsoft is integrating Copilot into many parts of Windows, too.

Image: Microsoft

The Copilot feature in Windows 11.

Copilot will essentially exist as an AI-powered digital assistant, much like Microsoft’s vision for...

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The first trailer for Apple’s sci-fi film Fingernails shows a retrofuturistic romcom

Image: Apple

Just yesterday, I included Fingernails in a list of movies from the Toronto International Film Festival that would be streaming very soon. And now, we have our very first trailer for the sci-fi romcom, which is coming to Apple TV Plus.

Directed by Christos Nikou, Fingernails is set in a sort of retrofuturistic world where scientists have developed a test that can prove that two people are (or aren’t) in love. It then uses this oddball premise to set up a love triangle between its trio of stars — Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, and Jeremy Allen White — as they attempt to navigate a world where a machine can determine whether a relationship lives or dies. It’s a quiet, dark comedy with a touch of body horror — the test itself involves yanking...

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Streaming giants have banded together for lobbying power

Most of these streaming services are in the Streaming Innovation Alliance. | Image: Wes Davis / The Verge

Streaming companies have formed the Streaming Innovation Alliance (SIA), reported Axios. The new trade group should give companies like Netflix and Disney a solid foundation from which to deal with current and future regulation by the federal government related specifically to streaming. The SIA formed as regulators look for ways to deal with a changing entertainment landscape that increasingly includes content creators on social platforms, which these companies don’t necessarily want to be lumped in with.

In addition to Netflix and Disney, Axios lists SIA members Paramount Plus, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, Peacock, TelevisaUnivision, and some small streamers like For Us By Us Network, Vault, and AfroLandTV. Other streaming services...

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Apple Podcasts overhaul pulls in original programming from third-party apps

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Apple just made its biggest push in decades to boost original content on its podcast app, which has been refreshed with the recent update to iOS 17. It’s also casting a wider net for its audience by allowing users to connect through third-party apps.

Following up on Apple’s WWDC announcements in June, more than 60 original podcasts are now available to Apple Music, Apple News Plus, Calm, and Lingokids subscribers. There are more than 100 new podcasts on Apple Podcasts, and new shows will launch every week this fall, the company says.

Apple launched Apple News+ Narrated yesterday, for example, which features articles narrated by professional voice actors. There are four shows on Apple News now and another 42 on Apple Music, including...

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FTC files a massive antitrust lawsuit against Amazon

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen state attorneys general have filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the e-commerce giant has unlawfully leveraged its market dominance to stamp out would-be competitors.

“Our complaint lays out how Amazon has used a set of punitive and coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement Tuesday. “The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them.”

“The lawsuit...

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The Creator retreads familiar AI panic territory to stunningly inert effect

John David Washington as Joshua in The Creator_._ | Image: Oren Soffer

Gareth Edwards’ new dystopian sci-fi epic is a gorgeous morass of AI doomerism that’s lacking in the way of novel ideas.

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Threads is struggling to retain users — but it could still catch up to X

Image: The Verge

Threads, Instagram’s X (formerly Twitter) competitor, is struggling to keep users around following its blockbuster launch, according to data from Insider Intelligence. The data, which was first reported on by CNBC, suggests that Threads will have far fewer monthly active users than Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok by the end of this year, but it may still have a chance to close the gap with X.

Insider Intelligence indicates that Threads will have 23.7 million active monthly users in the US by the end of 2023. That’s far fewer than what’s expected for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which Insider Intelligence says could have 177.9 million, 135.2 million, and 102.3 million respective US active monthly users by the end of 2023.

S...

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Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S2 noise-canceling headphones have dropped to a new low

Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S2 offer phenomenal sound and are among our favorite noise-canceling headphones. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and Apple’s AirPods Max have attracted so much attention that it’s easy to forget other noise-canceling headphones exist. But they do, and a few are actually better in some respects than their mainstream rivals. Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S2 are a good case in point. Right now, you can buy them at a new all-time low price of $249 ($150 off) from Amazon and Crutchfield.

If you prioritize sound quality above all else, we think Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S2 are the best noise-canceling headphones money can buy. The headphones deliver a powerful yet warm sound that rivals the AirPods Max. They offer other impressive features, too, including an elegant design and 30-hour battery life. The over-ears don’t drown out noise as well as...

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Microsoft is going nuclear to power its AI ambitions

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, speaks during an interview in Redmond, Washington, on Wednesday, March 15th, 2023. | Image: Chona Kasinger / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Microsoft thinks next-generation nuclear reactors can power its data centers and AI ambitions, according to a job listing for a principal program manager who’ll lead the company’s nuclear energy strategy.

Data centers already use a hell of a lot of electricity, which could thwart the company’s climate goals unless it can find clean sources of energy. Energy-hungry AI makes that an even bigger challenge for the company to overcome. AI dominated Microsoft’s Surface event last week.

Nuclear energy doesn’t create greenhouse gas emissions. Even so, it could also open up a whole new can of worms when it comes to handling radioactive waste and building up a uranium supply chain. The role nuclear energy ought to play in combatting climate change...

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SAG-AFTRA votes for strike approval for video game performers

Image: Sony

As one of the twin Hollywood strikes appears to be winding down, SAG-AFTRA has voted to approve strike authorization for video game performers covered under the union’s interactive media agreement. Earlier this week, the writers’ half of the Hollywood strikes reached a tentative agreement that may bring that standoff to an end, but the actors strike is still ongoing — and now with a new strike from video game performers looming should negotiations fail.

Though strike authorization was granted with a 98 percent approval vote, only 27 percent of eligible members voted. Strike authorization approval does not mean that video game voice actors and motion capture performers are now on strike. However, should contract negotiations reach an...

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Google Podcasts is going to the graveyard as YouTube Music takes over

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Google Podcasts is going away. Starting next year, Google will focus on offering podcast access within YouTube Music instead.

This change doesn’t come as a complete surprise. In April, Google launched the ability for users in the US to listen to podcasts in YouTube Music without a paid membership. It also lets users listen to podcasts offline and in the background while also switching between the audio and video versions on YouTube Music. As part of its podcasts push, YouTube also announced it will make podcasts available within YouTube Music globally before the end of 2023.

First launched on Android in 2018, Google Podcasts offered a way for users to listen to a library of podcasts for free while also receiving personalized...

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Xiaomi dives headfirst into Wear OS with the Watch 2 Pro

The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro makes the leap from a proprietary OS to Wear OS. | Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi announced it’s making the jump to Wear OS for its new Watch 2 Pro. And in true Xiaomi fashion, it’s offering a surprisingly stacked set of features, including body composition analysis and dual-frequency GPS, for an attractive price: £229.99 (roughly $280) or £279.99 ($340) for the LTE version.

The big benefit of Wear OS is access to third-party apps via the Google Play Store as well as Google’s own suite of services like Wallet, Maps, and notably, Google Assistant. Previously, non-Samsung or Google smartwatches had to plod along without Assistant for months, so it’s nice to see a Wear OS watch finally launch with it. Xiaomi didn’t specify which version of Wear OS it was launching with. However, the fact that it's powered by the...

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Whoop is adding a ChatGPT-powered ‘coach’

Whoop Coach runs on ChatGPT-4. | Image: Whoop

Whoop announced it’s adding generative AI to its platform with a new feature called Whoop Coach. Powered by ChatGPT, it’s meant to deliver more personalized recommendations and data insights.

Using AI in fitness tech for the sake of personalization isn’t new — though Whoop Coach is an admittedly novel take. Like ChatGPT, Whoop Coach functions as a health and fitness-focused chatbot that pulls from your Whoop data. One potential use case is asking it to design custom plans, routines, and recipes depending on your goals. For example, if you wanted to run a half-marathon in two hours, you could ask it to make you a training plan with context from your actual metrics.

Whoop says the feature can comb through your data to draw conclusions...

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Xiaomi announces 13T Pro with promise of four major Android updates

The Xiaomi 13T Pro in blue. | Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi is launching the 13T and 13T Pro today, two smartphones that will benefit from more Android upgrades than what it’s offered previously. Both are due to receive four major Android updates as well as five years of security patches, Xiaomi’s communications director, Daniel Desjarlais, announced earlier this month.

The Xiaomi 13T Pro will start at £649 (€799, or around $790), while the 13T will start at £549 (€649, or around $669), and both will be available starting today in the UK. The phones will primarily be sold in European markets, but based on Xiaomi’s previous smartphone releases, they’re unlikely to be officially available in the US.

Image: Xiaomi

Xiaomi 13T Pro in green.

A support commitment of...

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Tubi is using ChatGPT to give you better movie recommendations

Next time you need something to watch, just ask. | Image: Tubi

Tubi’s library of streaming content is huge. And kind of impenetrable. You can watch its many always-on channels or watch something the service’s homescreen recommends, but more likely than not, you’re going to spend too much of your TV-watching time scrolling the same endless rows of posters until your eyes cross. Just like every other streaming service.

Or maybe, Tubi thinks, ChatGPT can help you find what you’re looking for a little faster. Tubi is launching a feature called Rabbit AI that lets you ask for content any way you can think of. Search for “movies like Hidden Figures,” and you’ll get up to 20 recommendations; search “horror movies about high school,” and Rabbit AI will hopefully find what you’re looking for.

This isn’t a...

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Spotify’s new social listening feature lets you ‘Jam’ with 32 friends

Jam is rolling out globally to all Spotify users on Tuesday, September 26th. | Image: Spotify

Spotify just introduced a new social listening feature that lets multiple people DJ for your group party playlists. Rolling out globally today, Spotify Jam allows up to 32 Spotify users (as reported by TechCrunch) to participate in real-time listening sessions together, add songs to the shared playlist queue, and receive recommendations that bridge the gaps between group members’ tastes in music.

The feature is available to both free and Premium Spotify account holders, but only Spotify Premium subscribers (which starts at $5.99) can start and invite others to a Jam session. Jam participants will be able to select the device they want to play the music from if they wish to listen in remotely and can see who added specific tracks.

P...

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