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The sky’s the limit when money is no object, so why waste your hard-earned cash and coin on the everyday essentials? It’s time to dream big.
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Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge
Even if someone is the type to buy all the latest big games, we’re certain we can help you find them a unique and adequately geeky gift this holiday.
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Rite Aid isn’t allowed to use AI-powered facial recognition technology for another five years as part of a settlement it reached with the Federal Trade Commission. In a complaint filed on Tuesday, the FTC accuses Rite Aid of using facial surveillance systems in a “reckless” manner from 2012 to 2020.
During this period, the FTC says Rite Aid used facial recognition technology to “capture images of all consumers as they entered or moved through the stores.” It then allegedly created a database of customers identified as shoplifters or exhibiting some other kind of suspicious behavior. For some customers, the database would have “accompanying information,” such as names, birth dates, and the activity deemed suspicious by the store,...
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Blockchain games are returning to Epic Games’ marketplace. The Epic Games Store has a strict ban on games classified as “Adults Only” by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) — normally games with excessive nudity or violence. But the marketplace announced today that blockchain games classified as AO only because they use blockchain are an exception to this rule.
Heads up: Gods Unchained and Striker Manager 3 have returned to the Store after a change in our content policy regarding ratings for blockchain-based games. Learn more: https://t.co/RQGGzWGeG8
— Epic Games Store (@EpicGames) December 19, 2023
“Some blockchain-based games are receiving Adults Only (AO) ratings from industry ratings bodies for their particular...
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Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge
From color-changing lights to gadgets that’ll take care of dinner for you and your pets, here are some of our favorite smart home gifts.
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Illustration: Beatrice Sala
The US Justice Department (DOJ) says the FBI has created a decryption tool that helped it return the data of over 500 ransomware victims as part of a multinational law enforcement push. It also wrote that the bureau had seized “several websites” operated by the ALPHV / Blackcat ransomware gang.
However, Bleeping Computer reports that by this afternoon, ALPHV / Blackcat claimed to have regained control of its site and that the FBI only had decryption keys for 400 or so companies, leaving more than 3,000 victims whose data remains encrypted. The gang also reportedly said that it was no longer restricting affiliates using its ransomware software from attacking critical infrastructure, including hospitals and nuclear power plants.
According...
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Photo Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales and Cath Virginia / The Verge
The best tech gifts for those who spend way too much time sitting at a laptop or desktop PC — whether for work or leisure.
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If you have an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15, you can now use satellite connectivity to access Verizon’s roadside assistance service. In a support page spotted by MacRumors, Apple now says you can take advantage of the capability with devices running iOS 17.2 (or higher) and a Verizon SIM card.
Verizon’s roadside assistance program is run by the Allstate-owned Signature Motor Club and offers help when you’re having car trouble, even if you’re in a friend’s car or a rental. It includes vehicle towing up to 10 miles in any direction, winching, fuel delivery, jump starts, tire service, and more. While Verizon offers a $4.99 per line monthly subscription, it also offers flat fees for Verizon customers who use the service without a subscription.
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Image: VW
Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Porsche, and Scout Motors, is finally doing what nearly every other automaker has already done: announce its intention to adopt Tesla’s electric vehicle charging standard.
VW said it is “exploring adapter solutions” so that its current EV owners can access Tesla’s Supercharger network and expects to have something to roll out by 2025. That same year, you’ll start to see new VW electric vehicles rolling off the assembly line with Tesla’s charging port natively installed. All told, VW says the deal will give its customers access to 15,000 Supercharger locations in North America.
VW said it is “exploring adapter solutions”
Of course, VW is incredibly late to this parade. Things started rolling in...
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Has December slipped by and left you with little time to finish your holiday shopping? I’m not here to judge you for waiting until the last minute (we’ve all been there, after all). Instead, I’ll do you one better by helping you find a variety of gift ideas that should still arrive in time to be wrapped and tucked under the tree before Christmas.
There’s a wide swath of excellent gifts you can still nab — some of which may even be on sale — including smart home accessories, tablets, wearables, and headphones. Everything here is tech or tech-adjacent stuff that The Verge has tested or vouched for, so you can rest assured you’re not compromising on quality for the sake of timeliness. And if you need additional ideas, be sure to check out...
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Microsoft’s AI chatbot Copilot will now be able to churn out AI songs on demand — thanks to a new plug-in with Suno. The Cambridge-based AI music startup offers a tool on Discord that can compose an original song — complete with lyrics — based on a text prompt. Now, Copilot users will be able to access Suno using the Microsoft chatbot.
In order to start making music, Copilot users only need to sign on to their accounts and enable the Suno plug-in — or click on the logo that says, “Make music with Suno.” Users then need to think of a simple one- or two-line text prompt that describes their desired song, such as “create a folk song about Alaska summers” or “write a song about cats in the style of Cat Power” (both prompts I tried...
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Stability AI, the maker of the text-to-image model Stable Diffusion, is now offering a subscription service that standardizes and changes how customers can use its models for commercial purposes.
The company said the membership “redefines” how it grants commercial rights to users, aiming to strike a balance between profitability and openness. Stability AI’s membership offers three tiers: a free one for personal and research use; a $20 per month subscription for “creators, developers and startups with less than $1 million in annual revenue, $1 million in institutional funding, and one million active users”; and an enterprise plan. All three offer early access to new AI models, but only members of the two paid tiers are allowed to use...
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The Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 will be part of Samsung’s self-repair program. | Image: Samsung
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 will join the entire S23 series, the Galaxy Tab S9 series, and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro series in Samsung’s self-repair program this month. A partnership with iFixit, the repair program initially only supported S20, S21, and Tab S7 devices. At the start of 2023, the S22 line and some Galaxy Pro books were added, and now, the entire flagship S23 and foldable lines are joining the fix-it-yourself family.
The Galaxy foldables are not listed on iFixit’s page yet, so we don’t know what the prices will be. But as the Google Pixel Fold costs around $900 for a parts kit to repair the large inner screen through its partnership with iFixit, I’m guessing it's not cheap.
The full list of Samsung devices you can...
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The Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 will be unavailable for order in the US after December 21st at 3PM ET. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
At this point, experts say the ITC’s import ban is highly likely, but what does that actually mean for Apple long term?
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The best from Apple, Bose, Samsung, Sony, Beats, Google, and more
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Blue Origin’s 24th mission was a success. After its New Shepard rocket took off from West Texas on Tuesday morning, the booster and crew capsule safely separated mid-flight, with both landing back on Earth.
Liftoff occurs around 29:42 in the livestream and from there, you can see New Shepard propel to a maximum altitude of about 66 miles, allowing the uncrewed capsule to spend a short time in space. The reusable booster lands upright at 36:56 following the brief trip, and the capsule comes parachuting down after.
While Blue Origin originally planned on a December 18th flight, the Jeff Bezos-owned space tourism company scrubbed the launch due to cold temperatures and “ground issues” its teams had to troubleshoot. The NS-24 mission carried...
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Image: Beeper
Beeper claims it has a new fix to let you send iMessages from your Android phone — but the change requires that you own or have easy access to a trusted Mac.
First, I’ll quote part of an explanation from Beeper about how its iMessage service works — and how Apple has been able to shut things down. From a message posted to Reddit:
When you connect iMessage on Beeper, we need to send identification information called ‘registration data’ from a real Mac. We have, up until now, we been using our own fleet of Mac servers to provide this. Unfortunately, this has proven to be an easy target for Apple because thousands of Beeper users were using the same registration data.
However, with an update to Beeper Cloud on Mac that’s coming out on...
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Your dad’s favorite streamer, Ninja, will attempt his best Dick Clark impression (or do the kids only know Ryan Seacrest now?) and will host his own New Year’s Eve event that will stream on Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok. According to a report in Variety, the event, known as “Ninja’s NYE,” will feature appearances from other top streamers, giveaways, a Fortnite tournament, and a countdown to midnight.
The event is meant to appeal to Gen Z with promises that it’s not your parents’ New Year’s Eve ball drop. “Ditch your TV and come hang out with us,” reads the event’s website. “It’ll be more fun... we promise.”
Though Ninja was once the undisputed king of Twitch, he’s no longer pulling the viewership numbers he used to. According to Twitch...
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Articles published by New York Times-owned sports journal The Athletic and its staff of over 450 full-time writers, editors, and producers are now part of Apple News Plus, Apple’s $12.99 per month subscription news plan, in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. Meanwhile, Wirecutter stories are also coming to Apple News and will start appearing in the free feed “early next year.”
Both publications have been off of Apple News since The New York Times left Apple’s news aggregator in 2020, blaming the lack of a “direct path” for readers to take back to its websites and saying it wanted more control of its relationship with its readers. While the Times’reporting isn’t back, Athletic publisher David Perpich told Axios this new deal made...
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Microsoft’s obelisk keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Microsoft’s top-tier Xbox console keeps getting cheaper. It seemed like a big deal when the Xbox Series X fell to $350 just a couple of weeks ago, but now Best Buy is selling it through one of its limited in-app “drop” sales for a new low of $339.99 ($160 off).
To take advantage of the deal, you’ll need a free Best Buy account and the retailer’s app. If the direct links here don’t take you right to the listing within Best Buy’s app to buy the Series X at the discounted price, then look toward the bottom strip of icons in the app and click the Drops icon in the middle. (It depicts a downward arrow.) The deal is available today only until 6PM ET / 3PM PT or when inventory runs out. Best Buy has a live inventory tracker, which hasn’t ticked...
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado, on Monday, December 18th, 2023. Pictured is a young female brought to the state from Oregon. | Image: Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Five gray wolves have a new home in Colorado; state wildlife officials released them yesterday in a spectacular show of efforts to conserve the endangered species.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife experts swung crate doors open one by one to let the wolves run free onto public land. Some wolves hesitated for a moment, seemingly taking stock of their new surroundings, while others quickly bolted into the tall dry grass against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains.
It was a moment conservations have worked toward for years, overcoming much of the stigma that brought wolves to the brink of extinction in the first place. Residents voted to reintroduce the species in Colorado back in 2020, setting the state on a path to release its first new...
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Image: Netflix
The idea of the world ending usually channels excess: humanity running wild because, well, what does it matter anymore? And there’s some of that in Carol & the End of the World, a new animated series on Netflix. But mostly it’s a story about a quiet forty-something woman who uses the impending destruction of the Earth as a chance for self-reflection and discovery. While everyone else is base jumping and traveling the world, Carol slowly finds joy in the mundanity of everyday life. The show is strange yet comforting — and might just be an ideally meditative way to end the year.
Created by Dan Guterman (Community, Rick & Morty), Carol & the End of the World is centered on Carol (Martha Kelly) who is about the most unassuming person...
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Whether wired, wireless, or low profile, here are our picks for the best readily available boards.
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The Meta Oversight Board said removing the content could impact “freedom of expression and access to information” in the war. | Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta’s Oversight Board has criticized the company’s automated moderation tools for being too aggressive after two videos that depicted hostages, injured civilians, and possible casualties in the Israel-Hamas war were — it says — unfairly removed from Facebook and Instagram. In a report published on Tuesday, the external review panel determined that the posts should have remained live and that removing the content has a high cost to “freedom of expression and access to information” in the war. (A warning for our readers: the following descriptions of the content may be disturbing.)
One of the removed videos, posted to Facebook, depicts an Israeli woman during the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, pleading with kidnappers who were...
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His replacement got the boot barely a year into the job. What brought Petersenback?
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Netflix’s next sci-fi movie has a surprising lead. The streamer just released the first (very brief) teaser for Spaceman, which stars Adam Sandler as an astronaut who encounters a mysterious alien creature (voiced by Paul Dano) while on a research mission in space. The film, directed by Johan Renck, sounds weird and grim and is based on the Czech novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař.
Here’s how Netflix describes the premise:
Six months into a solitary research mission to the edge of the solar system, an astronaut, Jakub (Sandler), realizes that the marriage he left behind might not be waiting for him when he returns to Earth. Desperate to fix things with his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), he is helped by a mysterious creature from...
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What a year, huh?
As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time to look back on the year that was. It was a great year for entertainment and a not-so-great year for the people who actually made that entertainment. It was the year Twitter died, and the year Matter mostly failed to launch. Gadgets got gadgety-er, photos got what-is-a-photo-ier, and generative AI was suddenly everywhere.
Now through the end of the year, we’ll recap the highs and lows in gadgets, social media, and entertainment, and look ahead at how 2024 is shaping up (spoiler: even more AI). We’ll talk about our favorite movies and TV shows of the year, including the best stuff on Max, Apple TV+, Prime, and Disney Plus, and our favorite games on every platform, from PlayStation,...
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The Apple Watch Series 9 is pretty similar to the last-gen Series 8, though it does come in a new pink shade. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
In case you haven’t heard, Apple is halting Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales in the US due to a patent dispute. Starting on December 21st at 3PM ET, you won’t be able to buy the wearables from Apple, nor will third-party retailers like Amazon restock inventory after it sells out. Thankfully, both wearables are still in stock and on sale as of right now, with the Apple Watch Series 9 starting at around $329 ($70 off) in the 41mm GPS configuration at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. The Ultra 2, meanwhile, is currently on sale at Amazon with select bands for as low as $699 ($100 off) when you clip the on-page coupon.
Overall, the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Ultra 2 are great fitness trackers for iPhone users. They both feature a...
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The new smart home standard finally arrived this year. But poor implementation, significant backpedaling, and glacial progress have left it broken.
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There’s this picture from more than a decade ago that still goes viral on the web every once in a while. You’ve probably seen it: it was created by the venture capitalist Andrew Parker, and it compares a few dozen startups with subsections of Craigslist. Back then, Craigslist was all things to all people online, and a generation of startups figured they could do part of the job a lot better.
Some of those companies failed — sometimes because of Craigslist! — but some also became gigantically successful. Airbnb worked because it was more searchable, reliable, and trustworthy than a random Craigslist listing; StubHub sold you secondhand tickets without the 50 percent chance those tickets were fake; Etsy offered a much more fun shopping and...