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The best wireless earbuds to buy right now
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
The best from Apple, Bose, Samsung, Sony, Beats, Google, and more.
The VergeThe VergeNetflix’s 3 Body Problem adaptation channels the book’s spirit but not its brilliance
Sea Shimooka as Sophon in Netflix’s 3 Body Problem. | Image: Netflix
Though David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo’s 3 Body Problem is impressive, it really feels like just an introduction to Cixin Liu’s deeper ideas.
The VergeDoorDash begins Baconator deliveries by drone
Flight of the Baconator. | Image: Wing / DoorDash
DoorDash announced today that it’s rolling out a new fast food delivery pilot in the US, in partnership with Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery company. That’s right, friends. If you’re lucky enough to live near the Wendy’s at 2355 N. Franklin Street in Christianburg, Virginia, you can have your square beef sandwiches delivered by drone. Now, that’s the one by Hobby Lobby, not the one at 2330 Roanoke Street, near the Cracker Barrel.
In an email to The Verge, DoorDash representative Mattie Magdovitz said the drone delivery area covers “most homes within about 2.5 miles” of the Christianburg Wendy’s (again, by Hobby Lobby, not Cracker Barrel). She said drone delivery requires a roughly two-meter-in-diameter clearing, like a driveway, that...
The VergeMotorola spoiled a good budget phone with bloatware
We could’ve had it all, Motorola.
There are some phones that just feel nice to pick up, and the 2024 Moto G Power is one of them. It’s sitting on my desk and even though I don’t need to do anything with it right now, I pick it up anyway. That soft-touch back! The flat-yet-slightly-contoured edges! I turn it to look at the headphone jack on the bottom edge, just to remind myself if it’s there. If the battery is even a little low, I set it on my wireless charging stand just for the thrill. All this on a $300 phone! Imagine!
But after spending a little more time with the Moto G Power, I come crashing back down to reality. The LCD panel isn’t as nice and contrast-y as an OLED (that’s forgivable). The camera is underwhelming and suffers from Motorola’s unusual image...
The VergeIkea releases a pair of affordable USB-C chargers
Ikea is now selling a pair of its own USB-C chargers that start at just $7.99. The 30W Sjöss charger comes with a single USB-C port, and there’s also a 45W model (also called Sjöss) that has two USB-C ports for $14.99. This dual-port charger can only output 45W of power when using one port at a time, with the output halved at 22W to each device when plugging in two simultaneously.
Ikea’s chargers are compatible with Power Delivery (PD 3.0), Quick Charge (QC4+), and Programmable Power Supply (PPS) specs. Both chargers come with a sheet of colored stickers that lets you “personalize” them — useful in households where kids or flatmates can easily mix them up.
The big news here is how affordable Ikea’s two chargers are. At the time of...
The VergeNeuralink video shows patient using brain implant to play chess on laptop
Neuralink’s N1 implant. | Image: Neuralink
Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company has released a video purporting to show the first human patient using Neuralink’s brain implant to control a mouse cursor and play a game of chess.
The patient, identified as 29-year-old Noland Arbaugh, said he was injured in a diving accident eight years ago that paralyzed him below the shoulders. Arbaugh describes using the Neuralink implant as like using the Force from the Star Wars franchise, allowing him to “just stare somewhere on the screen” and move the cursor where he wants.
Elon Musk, who founded Neuralink in 2016, retweeted the video of Arbaugh and said it demonstrated “telepathy.”
— Neuralink (@neuralink) March 20, 2024
In addition to playing chess,...
The VergeSurveillance has a body count
Photo by John Moore / Getty Images
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just released updated data on migrant deaths at the US-Mexico border, and the results are staggering. At least 895 people died at the border during the 2022 fiscal year — a 57 percent increase from the previous fiscal year. This grim statistic makes 2022 the deadliest year on record for migrants attempting to come to the US, and it’s possible that the figure is an undercount.
For years, CBP has blamed the persistent rise in deaths on three factors: the summer heat, the ruggedness of the desert terrain, and the cruelty of smugglers who leave migrants to die there.
Climate change has indeed made summers hotter and drier, which means migrants who spend days or weeks trekking through remote stretches of...
The VergeTapeACall is about to get a lot more expensive
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The cost of TapeACall, the occasionally glitchy app many reporters use to record their interviews, will increase significantly in less than a month. I discovered this thanks to a pop-up notification when I opened the app, which alerted me that my annual subscription would increase from $29.99 to $79.99 per year on April 16th.
The price increase appears to be a result of new ownership. In January, IAC sold its Mosaic Group mobile apps — which includes TapeACall, editing app PDF Hero, and spam-blocking app Robokiller — to the Italian technology company Bending Spoons. Per Bloomberg, all of Mosaic’s 330 employees were laid off as part of the deal.
Bending Spoons acquired Evernote in 2022 and laid off more than 100 staff members. Under...
The VergeHouse passes bill banning data brokers from selling personal data to foreign adversaries
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images
A week after the House of Representatives passed a bill that seeks to force TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company, it passed a second bill that aims to protect Americans’ data from foreign adversaries.
The Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, or HR 7520, would prohibit data brokers from selling Americans’ personally identifiable information to foreign adversaries, including countries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Data brokers can face penalties from the Federal Trade Commission if they’re found to have sold sensitive information like location or health data to these countries. The bill sailed through the House, with all 414 lawmakers who voted opting to pass it.
The bill, led by House Energy...
The VergeThese toddler games for iPad are actually good — and that’s all too rare
C’mon, how cute is that little ghost in the window? | Image: Sago Mini / The Verge
Kids entertainment can be a special kind of hell if you’re not a kid. For every Bluey — a show that’s thoughtful, funny, and thoroughly watchable if you’re over the age of five — there’s a Blippi. If you’re not familiar, he’s a kind of MrBeast for toddlers. But he’s hardly alone: YouTube Kids is littered with low-grade, algorithm-optimized videos of colorful trucks and Cocomelon knock-offs. It’s weird out there.
While prepping for our first cross-country flight with our toddler, I stumbled across a true gem: a collection of iPad games that aren’t just tolerable, they’re actually good.
They’re made by Sago Mini, and every one of its games is just so goddamn cute. Some of them are structured as “play sets,” which are little interactive,...
The VergeLK-99 superconductor physicist accused of ‘research misconduct’
Screenshot by Alex Cranz / The Verge
An investigation has found that the physicist who claimed to have developed the world’s first room-temperature superconductor engaged in “research misconduct,” according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Ranga Dias, a researcher and assistant professor at the University of Rochester, has been under investigation by a committee of outside experts since last August over concerns about the accuracy of his findings.
“The committee concluded, in accordance with University policy and federal regulations, that Dias engaged in research misconduct,” a spokesperson for the University of Rochester tells the Journal.
Last year, Dias published a research paper in Nature highlighting a material called LK-99. It claimed that the material could...
The VergeThe best note-taking apps for collecting your thoughts and data
Photo by James Bareham / The Verge
These days, we are all dealing with huge amounts of information, from meeting notes to social media, to photos and videos, to whatever else we’ve collected — and we are all trying to find some way to store it, organize it, and find it when we need it.
If you want to get really basic, you can use a spreadsheet or create a simple set of word-processing documents. Otherwise, you can try what is somewhat inaccurately described as a note-taking app. These apps, at their simplest, store your notes and other thoughts and, at their more complex, are capable of manipulating any and all content you want to drop into them.
One of the most well-known has been Evernote, which has gone through quite a few changes over the years, both financially and...
The VergeMicrosoft and Meta accuse Apple of playing games with App Store rules
Illustration: The Verge
Apple is not living up to the letter or spirit of an order issued by a California federal judge in its trial against Epic Games. That’s what Meta, Microsoft, Match Group, and X told the court in an amicus brief on Wednesday.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told Apple in 2021 that it could not prevent app developers from using “buttons, external links, or other calls to action” informing users of payment options outside of their apps. Epic and other developers have taken issue with Apple’s 15 to 30 percent fees on in-app purchases, which Apple makes difficult to avoid by also preventing them from directing users to payment options at a lower price outside of the iOS ecosystem. Apple has defended the fees as reasonable compensation for its...
The VergeHere are all the best tech deals from Amazon’s spring sale
Bose’s travel-friendly QuietComfort Ultra Headphones are $50 off. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Spring is a season of refreshment and renewal. It’s an “upgrade season,” if you will, and Amazon’s Big Spring Sale offers a little something for everyone to add faster and better gadgets to their homes and everyday carry. The sale kicks off today and runs through March 25th. We’re seeing great deals on tech across the board, whether you’re after a new pair of headphones or perhaps a robovac to help with your spring cleaning duties.
There are tons of products on sale, and it’d be impossible to tell you about every last one of them. That’s why, below, we’ve compiled all of the best deals on devices and gadgets that we’ve vetted from brands we trust. You can scroll at your leisure or use the jump links below to go straight to your category...
The VergeFortnite players can now build their own Lego games
Image: Epic Games
The worlds of Lego and Fortnite are continuing to intertwine. At its State of Unreal keynote at GDC, Epic announced that, starting today, creators will now be able to use Lego templates and other Lego-branded elements to craft their own games inside of Fortnite. The Lego tools will be available in both Fortnite Creative and the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN).
Like all other user-made games in Fortnite, Lego games are eligible for payouts through the game’s creative economy, though it sounds like there are more restrictions compared to typical Fortnite Creative islands. In particular, Lego says that “all published Lego Islands must have an ESRB rating of E10+ to be accessible to players in the United States, and a PEGI rating of 7 to...
The VergeYouTube TV’s multiview comes to iPhones and iPads in time for March Madness
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
YouTube TV subscribers can now watch several programs at once on smaller devices — not just big TV screens. As noted by 9to5Google, the service’s multiview feature has rolled out on iOS and iPadOS, although the Android crowd will have to wait for it to arrive “in the coming months.” So, Google’s leaving its own crowd out of watching several March Madness games while on the go. Ouch.
Multiview lets you watch four different things at the same time. The feature started out focused squarely on sports, and... that very much remains the case. YouTube TV has made it slightly more flexible and customizable, but you still can’t just pick any four cable channels you’d like to have on-screen together, which would be my preference.
If you’re using...
The VergeEpic is adding its hyperrealistic MetaHumans to Unreal Editor for Fortnite
Image: Epic Games
At GDC last year, Epic launched a robust new creative tool called the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). And this year, the company announced some major new features that are on the way for it. To start, the company’s MetaHumans — hyperrealistic human characters that can be animated using only an iPhone — will be available in UEFN beginning today. Epic says that users can import any characters made using the MetaHuman Creator tool and the MetaHuman Animator into UEFN, where they can then be used as NPCs in player-made games.
While MetaHumans are the highlight, a couple of other notable features are coming as well. Epic says that UEFN will be getting more camera options later this year, including a much-requested first-person perspective....
The VergeCaptain America and Black Panther face off in the first trailer for 1943: Rise of Hydra
Epic’s State of Unreal keynote opened with a surprise: a first look at 1943: Rise of Hydra ,the new Marvel game from writer and director Amy Hennig, best known for her work on the Uncharted franchise. It features an “ensemble” of playable characters including Captain America and Black Panther, and is described as a “narrative-driven action-adventure game.”
Here’s how Marvel describes the set-up:
As the game’s narrative unfolds, players will assume the role of four central characters: a young Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America; Azzuri, T’Challa’s grandfather and the WWII-era Black Panther; Gabriel Jones, a US soldier and member of the Howling Commandos; and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris.
1943 was featured by Epic...
The VergeState of Unreal 2024: all the news from Epic’s GDC showcase
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
From Fortnite to UE5.
The VergeBiden adopts new vehicle emissions rules preferred by automakers and labor unions
Photo by Kevin Carter / Getty Images
The Biden administration announced new automobile standards aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2032 while also allowing automakers to meet their targets at a slower pace than originally proposed.
The new standards were not as strict as the proposal laid out by the Environmental Protection Agency last year, in which automakers would have been required to reduce emissions by over two-thirds by 2032. Car companies and the autoworkers union opposed the plan, citing recent slower sales growth of electric vehicles and the popularity of some hybrid vehicles as proof that customers were still not ready to make the full switch to fully electric vehicles.
The new standards were not as strict as the proposal laid out by the...
The VergeCyberattacks are targeting US water systems, warns EPA and White House
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, PA (pictured) was targeted by a cyber attack last year. | Image: AP Photo / Gene J Puskar
The Biden administration is asking states to bolster security for water and wastewater systems, warning that utilities across the country are being targeted by “disabling cyberattacks.”
In a letter sent to all US governors on Tuesday, the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cited ongoing threats from hackers linked with Iranian and Chinese governments, warning that similar attacks could disrupt access to clean drinking water and “impose significant costs on affected communities.”
Environmental, Health, and Homeland Security secretaries have been invited to a meeting on March 21st to discuss safeguarding requirements to protect critical water infrastructure against cyber attacks. The EPA is additionally forming a...
The VergeThe Verge’s favorite gardening gadgets
Photo courtesy of: Becca Farsace
We know how much you’ll miss the icy streets, freezing temperatures, and misbehaving radiators that the winter season brings, but spring is right around the corner, which means that while you no longer have to worry about shoveling snow off your driveway, it is time to start thinking about plants — whether it’s in your garden or on your windowsill. We asked the staff members of The Verge what they are planning to grow over the coming spring and summer months and how they are planning to care for those flowers, vegetables, and other flora. Here’s what they told us about starting new plants and caring for the seedlings — although some are using rather unusual gardening tools.
Rare heirloom seeds
Mia Sato, reporter
There are some fruits,...
The VergeBeeper couldn’t bring iMessage to Android — but it can still make a great chat app
Image: Beeper
Beeper needed a fresh start. Late last year, the company bet big on a hacked-together iMessage app for Android, only to be shut down by Apple within days. Beeper tried to fight back, but it ultimately threw in the towel just weeks later in a widely covered defeat.
“December was a wild ride,” Eric Migicovsky, the co-founder of Beeper, tells The Verge.
With dreams of an iMessage app dead, Beeper went back to square one to figure out its next steps. And the answer was to stop fighting Apple and return to its original goal: bringing every chat app — iMessage excepted — into a single place. “We’ve refocused on our primary mission,” Migicovsky says, “which is to build the best chat app on earth.”
The new Beeper app launched in beta last week,...
The VergeThe Evie Ring is cleverly designed but has some first-gen quirks
There are a lot of ideas and promise packed into this smart ring, but it’s not all the way there yet.
The VergeStardew Valley’s 1.6 update smashes its Steam player record
Patch 1.6 gives Stardew Valley players masses of new content, including this new “Meadowlands” farm biome. | Image: Stardew Valley / @pearblossoms_
Stardew Valley’s massive 1.6 update has been out on PC for less than 24 hours, and it’s already taken the game’s popularity to staggering new heights. The cozy farming simulator hit 146,159 concurrent players on Steam according to SteamDB data, smashing the game’s previous record as players flock to enjoy new content — including a new farm, festivals, and pets.
Stardew Valley’s previous peak of 94,875 concurrent Steam players was achieved back in January 2021, shortly after the 1.5 update was released. By contrast, its new record is higher than any of the concurrent player stats reported for Palworld this week — which is pretty impressive for a near-decade-old indie RPG. Developer Eric “Concerned Ape” Barone had teased some of the new...
The VergeCowboy’s first all-road electric bike is a gentle beast
The Cowboy Cross in “mushroom” with the inverted front suspension fork clearly visible. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
Cowboy — the independent and financially healthy maker of sophisticated and highly advanced e-bikes — just took the wraps off its first all-roader that lets riders more easily escape cobblestoned city streets for greener pastures.
To do that, Cowboy’s new Cross e-bike features fatter 60mm tires and suspension systems built into the front fork and seat post to soak up bumps along the way. It’s also fitted with grippier pedals to avoid foot slips when bouncing around, a large 540Wh removable battery for a 120km (75 miles) max range, and an integrated rear rack to carry more stuff.
I spent some time test riding the Cross e-bike on a variety of surfaces, and it’s truly a beast in all the best possible ways. To start, the seat suspension is...
The VergeMeta just showed off Threads’ fediverse integration for the very first time
Illustration: The Verge
Threads is coming to the fediverse — and we just got our first official look at how that might work from Meta itself. During the FediForum conference on Tuesday, Meta’s Peter Cottle showed off a brief demo of how users will eventually be able to connect their accounts and posts to the fediverse. The integration will let users share their posts across different platforms through Threads, letting them reach multiple audiences at once. Meta is just one of the many platforms aiming to join the fediverse, a group of decentralized social networks aiming to become interoperable with one another.
As you can see in the video below, which FediForum shared with The Verge, Cottle can navigate to his Threads account settings and toggle on an option...
The VergeThe Google Pixel 8A may get a brighter, 120Hz display
Image: OnLeaks / Smartprix
Google’s Pixel 8A may have a 120Hz display — up from 90Hz in the Pixel 7A — and a brighter screen, according to Kamila Wojciechowska, whose past leaks have included videos of the pre-release Pixel Fold.
Google’s I/O 2024 conference is set for May 14th, when the company will likely talk a lot about AI again. That’s also probably where the company will announce the Pixel 8A.
Writing for Android Authority, Wojciechowska says this next entry in the line of budget Pixel phones will feature 1,400 nits of peak brightness, up from the 7A’s 1,000 nits, and limited support for DisplayPort output via USB-C. Those may both be improvements over its predecessor, but if this leak is accurate, it won’t follow the 7A’s lead with a better camera system...
The VergeHere are the best iPad deals right now
Select iPad models go on sale quite frequently, but some discounts on aging models are getting harder to find. | Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge
While the best iPad deals usually land during major sale events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon’s various Prime Days, many of the best iPad deals from the holiday season have persisted into 2024. The discounts come and go like changing winds, but you can still take advantage of sales on many models today, particularly on the more affordable iPads. What’s more, prices are likely to drop even further when Apple ushers in a new slate of iPad Pro and iPad Air models, which could happen later this month or sometime in April, according to the latest rumors.
Forthcoming models aside, it’s difficult to know where exactly you can find the most notable iPad deals unless you’re scouring the major retailers on a daily basis. But that’s...
The VergeTikTok’s podcast boom might be a bust
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images
This is Hot Pod_,_ The Verge_’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up_ here for more.
The common wisdom goes that video is the key to podcast discovery: you take the juiciest clips from your show, hope one goes viral every now and then on TikTok, and then that wider (and younger) audience becomes your new listeners. Uncah jamz is the prime example of this, sending a bunch of new attention to Call Her Daddy. But even podcasters who have cracked the code on TikTok have found the relationship between on-app engagement and actual listening to be weak, at best.
That issue may soon be moot. Last week, seemingly out of nowhere, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would force Chinese company ByteDance to sell...