The OnePlus Open foldable could be arriving in the US as soon as next week

The OnePlus Open, a rebadged Oppo folding phone. | Image: WinFuture

German tech site WinFuture shared leaked marketing shots of the the OnePlus Open today and claims it will arrive in the US on October 19th for around $1,700.

The pictures show OnePlus’ rebadged Oppo Find N3 is more Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 than Pixel Fold — it’s taller than it is wide when you pop it open — and it has OnePlus’ characteristically circular three-camera array. The images show it in two colors: green and black.

Here, have a gallery of the images WinFuture shared today:

That the OnePlus Open will come on October 19th lines up with previous rumors about its release timeline. OnePlus just shared a shadowy close-up of the phone in a post yesterday, too.

A true OnePlus experience. How does it feel?

Opening Soon. p...

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Judge blasts Sonos for abusing patent system and throws out $32.5 million win against Google

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

So far in the patent infringement legal tussle between Sonos and Google, the former has notched several wins. But a ruling issued Friday has suddenly reversed that momentum, and Sonos has now been dealt a major setback. US District Judge William Alsup tossed out the company’s $32.5 million jury verdict win against Google and said two of Sonos’ key patents are unenforceable and invalid. That could make it much harder for Sonos to challenge other technology companies in court under similar claims of infringement.

“This was not a case of an inventor leading the industry to something new,” Alsup wrote in a decision that strongly criticized Sonos for bringing the suit in the first place. “This was a case of the industry leading with...

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Verge apparel and accessories are 20 percent off today

The Verge’s logo crewneck in orange | Fourthwall / The Verge

Use code PRIMETAKETWO at checkout

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Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe on ramping up R1T production and competing with the Cybertruck

Photo illustration by Alex Parkin / The Verge

The Rivian founder kicked off last month’s Code Conference with a conversation about supply chain challenges, the company’s Amazon deal, and whether the R1T will compete with the Cybertruck.

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Doctored Joe Biden clip triggers Facebook Oversight Board review

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

The Facebook Oversight Board is reviewing a new case involving a doctored video of President Joe Biden that could reshape Meta’s policies on “manipulated media” ahead of the 2024 election.

The video in question includes an altered clip of Biden placing an “I Voted” sticker on his granddaughter’s chest and kissing her cheek during last year’s midterm elections. That footage was edited to repeat Biden’s motion of touching the girl’s chest set to Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says” when the rapper says, “Girls, rub on your titties.” It was posted on Facebook with a caption calling Biden “a sick pedophile.”

In a press release Monday, the Oversight Board said that a Facebook user reported the video to Meta, but the company did not remove the post....

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Telly has a plan to build the best TV ever — and give it away for free

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

Ilya Pozin, the CEO of a TV startup called Telly, has a plan to take over your living room. The first is to build the best TV ever because he’s convinced that your TV is the most important device in your house and is being criminally underutilized as manufacturers cut every imaginable cost in the name of selling the cheapest sets. The second is to sell you that best TV ever for a price of zero dollars and zero cents.

Before founding Telly, Pozin was the founder and CEO of the streaming platform Pluto TV. Pluto’s big idea, back in 2013, was that people might not want to pay for streaming services forever and that someone should come in and build an ad-based network that could capture all those viewers. That idea is now everywhere in...

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The best smartwatch and fitness tracker deals for Prime Day

Prime day is here and so are wearable discounts. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Now that product launch season is fully underway, it’s a good time of year to find deals and discounts on your favorite smartwatches and fitness trackers. Especially if you don’t mind getting last year’s models. This year’s updates have been pretty iterative, so it’s a good opportunity to potentially save on more premium materials like stainless steel and sapphire crystal.

Sorting through all the different colors and models can be a headache, so we’ve rounded up the best deals below. Just keep in mind that you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription to participate. And when you’re done snagging a smartwatch or tracker, you can always head back to our main Prime Day deals page for anything else you might be looking for.

Best smartwatch...

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How the attacks in Israel are changing Threads

Image: The Verge

This is Platformer_, a newsletter on the intersection of Silicon Valley and democracy from Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer._ Sign up here.

Today, after a long weekend of awful terrorist violence in Israel, let’s talk about the shifting landscape for social networks amid the current crisis — and consider the path ahead for Meta’s Threads app.

I.

For more than a decade, whenever calamity struck, hundreds of millions of people flocked to Twitter. Its blend of first-person accounts, verified journalists sharing reporting and context, and a broad range of commentary made it the best app for understanding what was going on in the world at any given moment.

Twitter was by no means perfect, of course. It amplified misinformation, provided a stage...

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The best Prime Day earbud and headphone deals

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

We’re moving deeper into fall and inching towards the holidays, which means enticing discounts on wireless earbuds and headphones are starting to become more frequent. Amazon’s October Prime Day 2023 is a great opportunity to nab enticing deals on products from Apple, Beats, Bose, Google, Samsung, Sony, and other brands.

Whether you’re shopping for noise-canceling buds or something with a semi-open design for outdoor workouts, there’s a nice selection to pick from. We’ll be updating the list of deals over the course of both days to highlight our favorite sales.

Apple / Beats headphones and earbuds

• The recently released Beats Studio Pro over-ear noise canceling headphones are being offered at a serious discount for October Prime Day: t...

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Disney Imagineering’s latest robot looks right out of Star Wars

Morgan Pope (left) and Moritz Bächer (right) presenting the new Disney robot at IROS 2023. | Image: Evan Ackerman

Disney Imagineering, the entertainment giant’s research and development department, has a knack for creating technologically advanced robots like this hyperrealistic Na’vi shaman at Disney World. But its latest development might be its most adorable creation to date.

At the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Detroit last week, Disney unveiled a new, nameless bipedal robot that can walk (okay, more like waddle) unassisted and remain balanced, even when shoved, navigating difficult terrain, or having a literal rug pulled out from beneath it.

The robot is mostly 3D printed and was developed by a team from Disney Research in Zurich in less than a year, led by research scientist Moritz Bächer. “Most roboticists are...

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The best October Prime Day deals under $25

Yes, you can even get a smart speaker for less than 25 bucks. | Image: Amazon

There’s arguably no better deal than one that makes a handy, low-cost item drop to a price that falls into impulse-buy territory. While big ticket items like iPads and noise-canceling headphones may be more showy and attention-grabbing than something like a USB-C charger or a simple smart speaker, it’s often those smaller items that get the most use in our day-to-day life.

Saving a few bucks on some excellent and affordable tech can go a long way without breaking your budget. And if you’re doing some very early holiday shopping, they can make great stocking stuffers or small gifts for and fall birthdays in your life.

Here, we’re collecting some of the best deals for Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days on items that fall below $25. We always do...

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Passkeys: all the news and updates around passwordless sign-on

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Follow along as websites, apps, and services adopt passkeys in preparation for a passwordless future.

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The best October Prime Day gaming deals

All kinds of PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch games and accessories are on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Amazon Prime Day is one of the best times of the year to save on a wide variety of video games. Titles released in the last few months are getting some decent discounts (which still beats paying full price), and many older games from the last few years fall to their best bargain-bin prices (which is great for stocking up on those “Man, I’ve been meaning to get around to that one” games).

Here, we’ll go over all the best gaming deals we can scrounge up during Prime Big Deal Days across PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. We’re also on the lookout for hardware deals on things like controllers, streaming peripherals, and the consoles themselves.

Video games

• Just in time for spooky season, The Quarry on Xbox...

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The best October Prime Day deals you can get

Illustration by Lucia Pham / The Verge

It’s that time of the year again. Amazon’s latest Prime Day event, Prime Big Deal Days, is now upon us. The exclusive sales event unofficially kicks off the early-early holiday shopping season, and with it comes a cavalcade of deals and discounts. Some are bound to be repeat deals you may have encountered during a random sale, while others are matching their best price to date or dropping even lower.

If you’re in the market for earbuds, headphones, smart home devices, smartwatches, or Android phones, you’re likely to find a worthwhile deal. For each great deal, however, there are likely to be 20-odd trash ones that are crowding the space for your attention. That’s why our team of reviewers and expert deal hunters is working tirelessly to...

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Google begins prompting users to create passwordless passkeys by default

The additional visibility will at least remind Google Account users that passkeys exist. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Google is making it easier for users to ditch passwords on their Google accounts in favor of passkeys — a fast, secure, and passwordless approach to logins that utilizes the pin, face, or fingerprint authentication built into your devices. Starting today, Google account users will be prompted to create a passkey for their account by default, sparing them from manually hunting through account settings for the setup process.

While the industry-wide goal is to eventually make passkeys the new login standard, Google says that passwords will “still remain part of our lives as we make the pivot.” As such, users can still choose to sign into their Google account with traditional passwords, and can opt out of using passkeys entirely by disabling...

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See the first Lego Animal Crossing sets

An Animal Crossing house in Lego form. | Image: Lego

Last week, Lego officially revealed that Animal Crossing was making its way to bricks with a brief tease; today, we’re getting our first look at the first five actual Lego sets that will arrive March 1st, 2024.

It turns out they’re not big and blocky like Lego Super Mario or the pricey detailed replicas the Danish company often creates. Instead, Lego and Nintendo want to let you build your own Animal Crossing: New Horizons island one (relatively) affordable set at time.

Here’s what it would look like if you spent $180 on all five sets at once:

Image: Lego

This is five sets — not just one. Click here for a larger image.

And here’s the full array of Animal Crossing villager minifigs they include:

...

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Google wants to be at the center of all your climate change decisions

Illustration: The Verge

People shopping for electric vehicles, heat pumps, or air conditioning units will see enhanced search results on Google in a series of updates company hopes will help people live more sustainable, climate-friendly lives. The tech giant unveiled the new updates alongside a host of expanded AI tools for people and policymakers to reduce tailpipe emissions and better predict floods, wildfires, and extreme heat.

As the effects of climate change intensify, Google has taken to routinely rolling out packages of updates aimed at helping individuals and organizations reduce their carbon footprint. Taken together, today’s annnouncements represent a renewed effort by the company to help the world mitigate the impact of climate change and better...

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What’s this? Jack Skellington is coming to Fortnite for Halloween

Some special guests are coming to Fortnite’s annual Halloween event, Fortnitemares. The battle royale’s item shop is being updated in the coming weeks with a trio of season-appropriate characters: Alan Wake, Michael Myers, and Jack Skellington. They’ll join some new and returning Fortnite characters who will be available during the holiday.

Here’s a look at what to expect:

Outside of things to buy, the event will also feature the usual spooky makeover. In the past, that has included everything from ghosts to werewolves to a monster hunting Ariana Grande. However, in keeping with the current season of Fortnite, this year’s Fortnitemares is all about vampires. There’s a new shotgun that shoots wooden stakes, a vampire blade that saps...

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Activision Blizzard’s latest games will start arriving on Xbox Game Pass in 2024 if Microsoft deal closes

Image: Microsoft

Activision Blizzard says it will start adding games to Xbox Game Pass next year, if the Microsoft deal closes. Microsoft is currently targeting to close its proposed Activision Blizzard deal on Friday, pending approval from a UK regulator.

In a strangely timed and vague post on X (formerly Twitter) Activision Blizzard makes it clear to Xbox fans that both Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV won’t be part of Xbox Game Pass in 2023.

It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass.

While we…

— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) O...

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Samsung joins Google in RCS shaming Apple

Image: Google

Samsung has released a new video in support of Google’s #GetTheMessage campaign which calls for Apple to adopt RCS or “Rich Communication Services,” the cross-platform protocol pitched as a successor to SMS that adopts many of the features found in modern messaging apps... like Apple’s own iMessage.

The video, titled “Green bubbles and blue bubbles want to be together,” shows a Romeo and Juliet-style conversation between two users who want to be together, but who are kept apart by one of their “parents.”

“What did green ever do to them? We’re bubbles too,” one of them asks.

The “bubbles,” of course, are a reference to Apple’s iMessage interface which shows feature-rich blue bubbles for messages sent between Apple users, and...

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Now X posts can lock replies to only allow comment from verified accounts

Image: The Verge

The latest turn in the Elon Musk-directed platform X, previously known as Twitter, is that users can now block unverified accounts from replying to their posts.

This change arrives about 11 months after Musk launched paid verification for Twitter Blue, apportioning blue checkmark labels to people willing to part with $7.99 per month. It also means it could be harder for those who don’t pay for the service (with the exception of accounts forced into verified status) to refute misinformation, which researchers report has continued to increase.

Image: X

The new menu for locking replies.

There’s an argument that limiting replies to accounts verified by payment, phone number, or perhaps even government ID could...

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X CEO Linda Yaccarino drops out of the WSJ Tech Live conference

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media

X / Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has just canceled her appearance at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference next week, saying “with the global crisis unfolding, Linda and her team must remain fully focused on X platform safety.”

And... X CEO @lindayaX has decided not to appear at @WSJ Tech Live.

Here's the statement X sent to The Journal: "Linda Yaccarino will be unable to attend the WSJ Tech Live conference next week. With the global crisis unfolding, Linda and her team must remain fully focused on X…

— Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) October 9, 2023

The “global crisis” in question is almost certainly a reference to the war in Israel, which resulted in a flood of horrific videos being posted to X. Then there is the issue of one...

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John Riccitiello is out at Unity, effective immediately

Image: Getty Images

Unity, the company behind the game development engine of the same name, has just announced that its president, CEO, and chairman John Riccitiello “will retire” effective immediately.

“The Board will initiate a comprehensive search process, with the assistance of a leading executive search firm, to identify a permanent CEO,” reads the press release, adding that James Whitehurst will step in as interim CEO, president, and board member. “Mr. Riccitiello will continue to advise Unity to ensure a smooth transition.”

Notably, Unity’s new interim CEO is an outsider: Whitehurst is an advisor at Silver Lake, a private equity firm that owns about 9 percent of Unity. (He also spent 12 years as CEO of Red Hat, an IBM subsidiary known for a...

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The Pixel 8A is curvy and colorful in these first-look leaks

An unofficial render of the Pixel 8A. | Image: OnLeaks / Smartprix

Google just started selling its new $699 Pixel 8 and $999 Pixel 8 Pro, but a less expensive version is apparently already on the way: OnLeaks and Smartprix have teamed up again to offer unofficial renders of a roughly 6.1-inch Pixel 8A.

Like the Pixel 8, it’s a design with two rear cameras and a hole-punch selfie cam, and it’s curvy like the other new Pixel phones, too.

And you may not have to satisfy your curiosity with renders alone — because in September, Abhishek Yadav shared photos of this handset too:

Google Pixel 8a pic.twitter.com/nQMrucz5qv

— Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) September 21, 2023

Many journalists were a little skeptical about the images and the new rounded design last month — but the photos look almost...

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Google will stock Pixel 8 spare parts for seven years

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Google isn’t just promising seven years of upgrades for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro — the company says it’ll also stock spare parts for seven years as well.

“Parts will be available for seven years. That’s part of our commitment,” Soniya Jobanputra, director of product management at Google, told Android Authority. “[W]e need to make our parts available so you can keep your hardware alive for that long.”

While Google didn’t specifically tell the publication it’ll make those parts available to you, it’s hard to imagine otherwise. Not only does iFixit now sell repair parts for every modern Pixel phone with Google’s blessing and support — up to and including the Pixel Fold’s $900 screen — but right-to-repair will almost certainly be the...

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The best Sonos speakers to buy right now

Sonos has a speaker for practically every price point. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Sonos has an ever-growing lineup, and after you’ve bought your first speaker, you’ll likely want to put one in every room.

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California governor signs ban on social media ‘aiding or abetting’ child abuse

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1394, a law that would punish web services for “knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation” of children. It’s one of several online regulations that California has passed in recent years, some of which have been challenged as unconstitutional.

Newsom’s office indicated in a press release yesterday that he had signed AB 1394, which passed California’s legislature in late September. The law is set to take effect on January 1, 2025. It adds new rules and liabilities aimed at making social media services crack down on child sexual abuse material, adding punishments for sites that “knowingly” leave reported material online. More broadly, it defines “aiding or...

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Should Walmart be data-mining your Ozempic prescriptions?

Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Last week, Walmart made headlines with a claim that new weight loss drugs might be making people buy less food. Walmart US CEO John Furner told Bloomberg that people taking Wegovy, Ozempic, and similar drugs showed a “slight change” in their purchasing habits: “just less units, slightly less calories.” How does Walmart know this? Because, Bloomberg indicates, it can compare people’s prescription history against their food shopping patterns. It’s the kind of data mining that’s likely possible for any big retail-and-pharmacy operation — and one that raises questions about how private health records should be.

We don’t know the details of Walmart’s research. The company didn’t respond to a request for more information from The Verge, and B...

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Meta Quest 3 review: almost the one we’ve been waiting for

Meta’s new headset is better than its predecessors in almost every way. But until there’s more to do in mixed reality, this won’t be the headset that gets everyone wearing headsets.

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Disney’s Loki faces backlash over reported use of generative AI

Online designers are upset over what appears to be an AI-generated stock image in the poster for Loki’s second season. | Image: Disney / Marvel

A promotional poster for the second season of Lokion Disney Plus has sparked controversy amongst professional designers following claims that it was at least partially created using generative AI. Illustrator Katria Raden flagged the image on X (formerly Twitter) last week, claiming that the image of the spiraling clock in the background “is giving all the AI telltale signs, like things randomly turning into meaningless squiggles” — a reference to the artifacts sometimes left behind by AI-image generators.

The creative community is concerned that AI image generators are being trained on their work without consent and could be used to replace human artists. Disney previously received backlash regarding its use of generative AI in another...

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