The Verge
Space lasers!
Illustration by Sisi Kim for The Verge
If we want to go to Mars, we need a better way to reliably relay messages through space. The solution could be optical communication, or lasers.
The VergeThe VergeWhere are all the robot trucks?
Illustration by Sisi Kim for The Verge
The promised wave of autonomous big rigs never materialized. But 2024 could prove to be a pivotal year for the technology.
The VergeWhatsApp to let iOS users share pictures and videos in original quality
Media files sent as documents don’t display a preview in WhatsApp, but you can view them in-app by tapping on them. | Illustration: The Verge
WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature on iOS that allows users to share photos and videos as a document to preserve their original quality. As spotted by WABetaInfo the official changelog provided alongside WhatsApp’s 23.24.73 update on iOS notes that users can now “easily send original quality media as a file,” as an alternative to the compressed approaches the communications app defaults to.
This feature was spotted being tested by a small subset of users in November, but is now releasing to all iOS users. The changelog notes that this is rolling out “over the coming weeks” so it may take a while to appear on your device, but when it does you can access it by tapping the “+” in chat, selecting “Document” and then “Choose Photo or...
The VergeSpotify to lay off 17 percent of its workforce in latest round of job cuts
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge
Spotify is laying off 17 percent of its employees in an attempt to cut costs, its CEO Daniel Ek announced to staff today. Based on its total headcount of 9,241 revealed during its last earnings release, the cuts are expected to impact over 1,500 people.
In a memo sent to staff, Ek said slowing economic growth and rising costs were to blame for the cuts, which he said would make Spotify a leaner company. “Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact,” Ek wrote. “As we’ve grown, we’ve moved too far away from this core principle of resourcefulness,” he later added.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve moved too far away from this core...
The VergeKiss debuts ‘immortal’ digital avatars and plans to go ‘fully virtual’
Image: Pophouse Entertainment
Kiss has been on a really, really long tour. The biggest glam rock band of all time has been playing its End of the Road tour for the last four years, and just wrapped the final show of its final farewell tour in New York City at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Kiss has done several farewell tours, but this time might be for good.
At the end of the show, after Kiss finished playing its last song (“Rock and Roll All Nite”), they disappeared in a hail of fire and smoke. After the smoke faded away, the lights went down, and on the screen behind the stage, a camera zoomed across a spooky lake on some fantastic planet toward the silhouettes of four figures: the new digital avatars of Kiss, in what I suppose must be their final form. Then...
The VergeZoom stealth-dropped an Apple TV version of its meetings app
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
I know you’ve been waiting all year to hear this: You can use Zoom on your 2nd gen or later Apple TV 4K. Yesterday, AppleInsider spotted a post from Sigmund Judge about the “Zoom - for Home TV” app that quietly showed up in the tvOS App Store.
Earlier this year, Apple’s tvOS 17 update enabled Continuity Camera for the Apple TV, making it possible for anyone with a 2nd-generation-or-later version of the streaming box to use their iPhone or iPad as a webcam for FaceTime on a TV. The iPhone can do the same thing for meetings on macOS.
Image: Wes Davis / The Verge
Zoom on an Apple TV.
Using Zoom’s new app is fairly straightforward. Logging into it is a lot like signing into most third-party video streaming apps —...
The VergeBending Spoons laid off the entirety of Filmic
Logo: Filmic / Image: The Verge
Bending Spoons has reportedly laid off all of the staffbehind popular iOS and Android mobile filmmaking app Filmic Pro. That’s according to PetaPixel, whichreported onFriday that it learned Filmic now has no dedicated employees and that the layoffs included the company’s founder and CEO, Neill Barham.
Some former high-level employees posted about their departure. Christopher Cohen, who was Filmic’s technical chief officer, posted on November 3rd that he was no longer with the company. Kevin Buonagurio, the company’s now-former chief operating officer, replied to a LinkedIn user who’d shared the PetaPixel story yesterday, saying that “pushing the envelope” of mobile filmmaking was part of “what made the Filmic journey so fulfilling for...
The VergeGarmin Venu 3S review: right features, wrong price
While the Venu 3 series ticks off a lot of the right boxes, it’s a little pricey considering the competition. But at least you’ll finally get credit for your naps.
The VergeFortnite’s next chapter adds boss battles, Lego, Solid Snake, and a brand-new island
Image: Epic Games
Fortnite is heading underground. Following The Big Bang event on Saturday, which led to the destruction of the Chapter 4 island, some big changes are coming to the battle royale in a new season dubbed “Underground.” That includes a new island, gameplay features like boss battles, Lego skins, and of course more licensed characters like Metal Gear’s Solid Snake and Peter Griffin from Family Guy.
Let’s start with the island. In the update — which brings the game to Chapter 5: Season 1 — the battle royale island has been completely changed, which means a number of new locations. There’s a railway — complete with a train you can actually travel on — as well as marinas, mansions, and an all-new grassland area. There’s also quite a bit of snow.
...
The VergeA better way to YouTube
Illustration: William Joel / The Verge
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 16, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome to our delightful corner of the internet, sorry about all the productivity apps, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)
Hope you all had a great holiday, or at least a great week with one fewer email in your inbox. This week, I’ve been testing Supernotes as a daily diary app, reading about what it takes to make an iPhone in India and whatever “gamified theater” is, unsubscribing to every brand that sent me a “Happy Holidays!” email, hunting for games to play on my new Backbone controller, watching Mike Birbiglia’s excellent The Old Man and the Poolspecial (and listening to his...
The VergeThe second ‘Halo’ season has a release date and a teaser trailer
Master Chief, the Spartan hero from Halo, will continue his live-action adventures with two episodes of its second season premiering worldwide on February 8th next year. Paramount Plus announced the date, along with a teaser trailer, during CCXP in Brazil.
The teaser trailer doesn’t reveal much about the story, of course. But Paramount Plus says in its release that the new season will see Schreiber’s Master Chief trying to prove that the Covenant (the alien antagonists from the show and the games) are preparing to attack Reach — the humans’ military stronghold that fell prior to the story’s beginning in the first Halo game.
If you’ve played that game, you know where this goes, and Paramount Plus hints at it in the release. The Master...
The VergeFortnite’s Eminem concert teased the future of the game
Image: Epic Games
Fortnite’s latest virtual concert was more than just Eminem stomping across a destroyed city — it also teased a number of experiences coming to the game in the future.
The Big Bang Event, as it was called, lasted around 10 minutes and whisked players through a variety of spaces. At first, everyone was gathered on the Fortnite OG island to witness a few moments from the game’s past happen again: a rocket launched, a meteor crashed, and then everything was sucked into a black hole.
From there, players were sucked into a number of portals, each with a different theme. First, there was an island full of Lego characters running around, fighting and building things. Then there was a futuristic race. Finally, Eminem appeared, and while he...
The VergeFortnite and Lego join forces for ‘survival crafting’ game
The next chapter of Fortnite will introduce a new island — but it’s also adding a Lego-themed game experience. Following The Big Bang event, which marked the conclusion of Fortnite OG(and also starred Eminem), developer Epic Games revealed a new in-game experience called Lego Fortnite. It’s described as “a new survival crafting game” that will be available within Fortnite starting on December 7th.
Get ready for an all new survival crafting adventure! #LEGOFortnite launches in Fortnite on December 7
Find out more: https://t.co/hpbGoNQXF7 pic.twitter.com/NrFuqngonW— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) December 2, 2023
Lego Fortnite is the first announcement out of a previously revealed partnership between the two companies. In April of last year,...
The VergeAmazon’s first Fallout trailer welcomes you to the wasteland
Fallout. | Image: Prime Video
War never changes — and neither do the vibes in Fallout. After a bit of teasing, Amazon just released the first teaser trailer for its live-action adaption of Fallout, and it starts out a lot like the games: a vault dweller leaves the comfort of their home to explore the dangerous postapocalyptic wasteland outside. And boy, are things dangerous.
This time around, the vault dweller is named Lucy (Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell), and she experiences a lot of the series’ key moments in the short trailer. That means horribly mutated animals, slapped-together cities, the militant Brotherhood of Steel, vault uprisings, some Wild West shootouts, and a very good dog who is also a killer. And of course, there are the classic tunes — in this case,...
The VergeHere’s how a bridal photo captured a single person in three poses at once
This is decidedly not evidence of the existence of parallel realities. | Image: Tessa Coates / Crop: The Verge
Depending on how “online” you are, you may have seen a picture floating around socials with a strange quirk: a woman — comedian Tessa Coates — is standing in front of two mirrors in a bridal gown and, somehow, holding three poses at once. Coates insisted in her Instagram post that the picture wasn’t altered; it just came out that way.
So what happened? Was it a glitched iOS Live Photo (the iOS feature that takes short videos and picks out the best one)? A faked image manipulated with Photoshop? A brief glimpse into three different, parallel realities?
Nope, it’s simpler than all of that. Faruk from the iPhonedo YouTube channel posted a short video to Threads explaining exactly what happened, and it’s much more straightforward than you...
The VergeThe Ember Tumbler is a cool, high-tech travel mug — but it can’t handle the heat
It’s a good-looking desk accessory — but is it a good mug? | Image: Ember
My coffee routine is needlessly fussy but fairly predictable. I wander bleary-eyed into the kitchen, add some water to the kettle, and start heating it to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, grind some coffee beans, get out the Chemex, add and rinse a new filter, put the whole thing on a scale, add 40 grams of beans, slowly pour in 600 milliliters of hot water, pour it into my trusty silver Yeti Rambler, and pad into the living room to either play with my son or look at TikTok on my phone. It’s a life, you know?
For the last few weeks, the Ember Tumbler has wormed its way into that routine. The $199 Tumbler is Ember’s newest product but carries the same promise as the company’s popular mugs: it can keep your drink at the exact temperature you want...
The VergeHere are the best AirPods deals you can get right now
Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro are still matching the all-time low they set during Black Friday.
If you know where to look, there are often some great discounts available on Apple’s ever-popular AirPods. Since Apple launched the third-gen AirPods toward the end of 2021, we’ve seen the starting price of the second-gen, entry-level model slowly dip to around $100. And now that the second-gen AirPods Pro has been on the market for a year, we’re also seeing their price fall more often, too. We’re even seeing great deals land on the newer updated AirPods Pro with USB-C.
Here, we’ve curated the best deals currently available on each model, including the entry-level AirPods, the AirPods Pro, the third-gen AirPods, and the AirPods Max.
The best AirPods (second-gen) deals
In 2021, Apple lowered the list price of the second-gen...
The VergeFederal judge vows to investigate Google for intentionally destroying chats
Google chief legal officer Kent Walker. | Photo By Alex Zea/Europa Press via Getty Images
Judge James Donato is overseeing Epic v. Google, a case that could determine the future of the Android app store — but testimony in this case may have more repercussions for Google too.
On Friday, Judge Donato vowed to investigate Google for intentionally and systematically suppressing evidence, calling the company’s conduct “a frontal assault on the fair administration of justice.” We were there in the courtroom for his explanation.
“I am going to get to the bottom of who is responsible,” he said, saying he would pursue these issues “on my own, outside of this trial.”
Testimony in the Epic v. Google trial — and in a parallel DOJ antitrust suit against Google in Washington, DC — revealed that Google automatically deleted chat messages...
The VergeSamsung Galaxy S24 leaks suggest a titanium build, flattened screen, and more
Leaked images of the new Samsung S24 Ultra and standard S24. | Image: Windows Report
This is the time of year when Samsung unwillingly has major details of its flagship Galaxy S line of phones leaked out months before they launch. So it will come as no surprise that we’ve now got details on the S24 and S24 Ultra — or at least the phones we assume will carry that name.
Today, Windows Report got a hold of new official Samsung images that include the Galaxy S24 Ultra with a new flattened screen design. It confirms an earlier leak by Twitter / X user David Martin, who posted handheld images of the purported new S24 Ultra. The images clearly showed sharper screen edges akin to the changes made with the regular S23 from earlier this year, instead of the gentle curve, and a new gray color finish.
As reported last month, Samsung...
The VergeIn firing Altman, OpenAI’s board wanted to keep the element of surprise
Illustration: The Verge
We still don’t know the whole story around the conflict between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company’s board, but more and more is leaking out. A new report, from The New Yorker,alleges that OpenAI’s old board deliberately excluded Microsoft after initially voting to expel Sam Altman as CEO, and they actually believed the company would back them.
In the sprawling story, New Yorker reported Microsoft executives were blindsided by the decision to oust Sam Altman, possibly to prevent Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella from warning Altman what was about to happen.
Altman has a reputation for being a shrewd business person, and part of the decision not to inform Microsoft was to ensure that he would be surprised.
When OpenAI announced Altman’s...
The VergeSpaceX will take some Amazon satellites to space
Image: Amazon
Amazon is enlisting the help of one of its biggest rivals to shuttle its Project Kuiper internet satellites into space. The company will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for three launches beginning in 2025, Amazon announced on Friday.
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite program that could eventually provide users across the globe with internet connectivity. Amazon launched its first two Project Kuiper test satellites into space in October, where it managed to connect to the internet and conduct a two-way video call. However, it still has to do some serious catching up to SpaceX’s Starlink, which has already deployed around 5,000 satellites.
Despite the rivalry between the two companies, it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise...
The VergeHere are the best Apple Watch deals right now
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 isn’t a massive step up from the prior model, but it does offer a few new features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
A couple of months ago, Apple launched its latest batch of smartwatches, introducing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 ($799) alongside the new Apple Watch Series 9 ($399). Each wearable has its own pros and cons, as does the second-gen Apple Watch SE ($249), but the introduction of the new wearables also means there are now more Apple Watch models on the market than ever before — and a lot more deals to be had.
But with all of those options, which one should you pick? Generally speaking, you want to buy the newest watch you can afford so that it continues to receive software updates from Apple. The latest update, watchOS 10, just launched on the Apple Watch Series 4 and newer, though no one can say with certainty whether the Series 4 will get...
The VergeThe Verge’s 2023 holiday gift guide
A selection of great tech and non-tech gifts aimed at the tinkerer, the creative, and the kid in all of us.
The VergeAmazon Fire TVs have found a new and annoying way to slap you in the face with ads
Image: Amazon
Well this friggin’ sucks.
If you have a Fire TV product of some kind, you’ve probably noticed in the last few weeks that every time you turn on the device, a full-screen ad plays instead of displaying the homescreen.
At first, I thought it was some kind of mistake on my part. That I somehow hit a button during my TV’s startup that triggered the ad to play, but then my husband started noticing this phenomenon on his Fire TV, too.
Unfortunately, this is a feature, not a bug.
As Elias Saba over at AFTVnews recently reported, apparently a new update changed the default location of the Fire TV cursor. Now, instead of the cursor starting on the navigation menu, it starts on the big-ass banner ad that always takes up half of any Fire TV home...
The VergeOpenAI’s GPT store delayed to next year
Image: OpenAI
OpenAI’s GPT store will be delayed until next year, the company said in an email to people who signed up for its GPT Builder.
In the email, OpenAI said that “unexpected things have been keeping us busy,” which pushed back the GPT store’s rollout. The company said it had planned to release the store in December, which itself is slightly later than originally promised; at its developer conference in November, OpenAI said the store would launch later that month.
OpenAI email to custom GPT builders.
To be fair to OpenAI, it did have a very eventful past week dealing with the ouster of CEO Sam Altman, the open revolt of hundreds of its employees, the exodus and heart emoji social media campaign of its senior executives,...
The VergeAnalogue is shipping its TurboGrafx console and restocking Pockets
Image: Analogue
Three years after its announcement, Analogue is finally shipping the Analogue Duo: a modern reimagining of NEC’s systems that can play games made for the TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, SuperGrafx, TurboGrafx CD, PC Engine CD-ROM, and Super Arcade CD-ROM. In an update on Friday, Analogue says the Duo will start shipping on December 11th and is on track to be delivered before Christmas.
The Duo was initially set to launch in 2021, but that date kept getting pushed back until the company finally started taking preorders in May. Priced at $249.99, the machine supports both wired and Bluetooth controllers and is capable of running games in up to 1080p with “zero lag.” Just like the Analogue Pocket, the Duo relies on the actual game cartridges and...
The VergeHow the Tesla Cybertruck has changed since 2019
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Now that the first few customers have taken delivery of their Tesla Cybertrucks, it’s probably worth taking a closer look at how the price and specs have changed since the original announcement in 2019. After all, a lot has happened since then!
While the truck looks remarkably similar to how it did four years ago, almost nothing else about the production versions is the same. The price, range, and performance have all shifted dramatically — and probably not in the direction most customers would prefer.
A lot has happened since 2019
First of all, the price is more expensive. We’ve known for a while that Tesla wasn’t going to be able to keep to its 2019 price estimates. Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself admitted in 2022 that the Cybertruck’s...
The VergeAmazon’s redesigned Alexa app makes smart home controls easier to use
The Amazon Alexa mobile app has a new design and new features. | Image: Amazon
It’s been 87 years ... (okay, three), but Amazon has finally updated its Alexa app. The revamp is rolling out fully this week to iOS and Android devices, but it started this summer with some small changes you may have already spotted. The end result is an app that’s more streamlined and more tailored to smart home control. And while it’s not appreciably faster (boo), it is considerably more intuitive and easier to use (yay).
I’ve not been quiet about my disdain for the Alexa app’s (lack of) capabilities. But this new app and the new Map View feature that launched last month, combined with the increased smart home control capabilities of the Echo Show 8 and the new Echo Hub, could convince me to try it again as my smart home daily...
The VergeThe best noise-canceling headphones to buy right now
Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones have an all-new design. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Get some peace and quiet with any of our top picks for noise-canceling headphones. Sony’s still the best overall, but there are reasons to go elsewhere, too.
The VergeSuicide Squad Isekai looks like a magical Elseworlds adventure in its new trailer
Warner Bros.’ animated features based on DC Comics characters have always had that fascinating X-factor that the studio’s live-action projects tend to lack. The new trailer for director Eri Osada and writer Tappei Nagatsuki’s Suicide Squad Isekaimakes it look like the studio’s keeping that tradition alive.
Set in a continuity outside of DC’s core canon (much like an Elseworlds comic), Suicide Squad Isekai follows Harley Quinn (Anna Nagase), Deadshot (Reigo Yamaguchi), Peacemaker (Takehito Koyasu), Clayface (Jun Fukuyama), and King Shark (Subaru Kimura) into an alternate reality as the team is sent on yet another risky, covert mission by the US government. Though the super-felons are all used to working together as Task Force X in their...