Venus, Earth’s hellish doppleganger. | NASA/JPL-Caltech
A new study adds to a growing pile of evidence that Venus may be volcanically active — a finding that, if true, would help explain how volcanoes impact planetary evolution and habitability across the cosmos. The research, which focuses on strange signals coming from a Venusian volcano called Idunn Mons, is fueling excitement about future missions to Earth’s nearest neighbor that will settle the matter once and for all.
It’s long been known that Venus is covered in some seriously surreal volcanoes. But it is impossible to tell from Earth whether they are still oozing lava today, because Venus’s thick and hazy atmosphere obscures whatever may be happening on the ground.
Now, using archival observations from old orbiter missions and the...
B&H Photo has deals on cameras and a whole bunch more for Black Friday. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
B&H Photo in New York City may be commonly known to locals of the tri-state for its brick-and-mortar presence in midtown Manhattan, but the camera and electronics retailer has a lot on offer via its website for nationwide Black Friday deal hunters. Many people shop there for niche photography equipment — you can still buy darkroom supplies through B&H if you see fit — though there is also a lot of general tech on offer.
Below we have surfaced some of the best tech deals we can find at B&H for Black Friday, with wide-ranging sales on products across photo and video gear, earbuds, computers, TVs, and more.
Many can enjoy one year of Hulu’s ad-supported streaming service for just $1 per month. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Now that Black Friday is finally upon us, several popular streaming services are offering a number of discounts. New and even some previous subscribers can, for example, enjoy a year of Hulu for just $0.99 a month. While that’s probably one of the best deals out there this year, other services are also great limited-time offers for new, past, and even existing subscribers alike. Below, we’ve curated some of the best we’ve seen this year to help you get the best bang for your buck.
Also, if you’re looking for deals outside of streaming, be sure to also check out our ever-expanding roundup of the best Black Friday deals, where you’ll find discounts on everything from streaming devices and laptops to TVs and smart speakers.
The Pixel 5A leads the charge in a variety of early Black Friday deals from Google. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
Google has launched its Black Friday deals, and there’s a lot to like if you’re in the market for a Pixel, Chromecast, or Nest device. The search giant kicked off the deals in the Google Store early, and now many of the big-name retailers are offering equivalent deals on the same items. Google even advertises these deals as running until December 1st, a few days after Cyber Monday.
By now there are many great Black Friday deals to consider, and in addition to our retailer-specific roundups for sales at Target, Amazon, and Walmart, if you’re starved for ideas on what to shop for, we also have a variety of gift guides for you to check out.
In the meantime, we have highlighted all the worthwhile Google deals below — such as $50 off the...
Black Friday usually begins the day after Thanksgiving in the US, but in 2021, that’s just when it morphs into its final form. The once-a-year deal extravaganza started early at a couple of retailers, including Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. Each marked down a batch of tech products weeks ahead of schedule, and each retailer is frequently sharing more deals and details.
Now that we have reached the big day, there are deals aplenty just about everywhere. We’ve even got a live blog covering the latest Black Friday Amazon Lightning Deals, so you can get buying advice directly from our team as the biggest deals happen.
You can find all of the latest deals and must-know details to make your shopping journey easier right here on this page,...
Illustration by The Verge
The best deals for the day of Black Friday, as we find them
Black Friday has been happening through all of November, but now it’s _really_here because it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US. If you’re enjoying some much-needed rest with friends and family, we want you to keep doing that. But if you have some downtime, it won’t be wasted by checking out our curated list of the best Black Friday deals below.
Whether you’re on your phone or a computer, we’ve organized it to be easy to navigate. At the top of the post is where we’ll put the latest deals we’ve found, including Lightning Deals that will likely sell out quickly. That way, you won’t need to scroll a bunch and wonder what’s new versus what isn’t, or miss out on a stellar deal. If you want to stay even more up-to-date (and feel like...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Apple and Google have each been fined €10 million (around $11.3 million) by Italy’s competition authority for not properly obtaining a user’s consent before using their data for commercial purposes, the AGCM has announced. Both are accused of not correctly informing users when their data will be used in this way, preventing customers from being able to give their informed consent.
In a statement, Google said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal. “We give people simple controls to manage their information and limit the use of personal data, and we work hard to be fully compliant with the consumer protection rules,” a spokesperson said. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google plans to appeal the fine
T...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Apple’s first AR headset will be released in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a research note from analyst Ming-chi Kuo seen by MacRumors and 9to5Mac. Kuo predicted back in March that the headset would be released sometime next year, and is now also providing more technical information on the device.
The headset will have two processors, according to Kuo, one with “the same level of computing power as M1” and one lower-end chip to handle input from the various sensors. For example, Kuo says that the headset has “at least 6-8 optical modules to simultaneously provide continuous video see-through AR services.” The headset is also said to have two 4K OLED microdisplays from Sony.
Kuo cites the headset’s “Mac-level (PC-level)...
This is what your headset will look like with these discounted modifications.
The Oculus Quest 2 is an all-around solid piece of hardware, and it’s a very popular holiday gift since there are some great deals happening now. But anyone who already owns one can tell you that the company’s straps leave a lot to be desired. The cloth strap included in the box isn’t supportive, and while the $50 Elite Strap addresses that, it’s quite fragile. Mine broke within a year of normal use, and surfing Oculus’ Reddit page will show you that some people’s straps meet a similar fate.
A popular and crafty modification that you can make to your headset is to attach HTC’s Deluxe Audio strap (originally made for the Vive) with a set of third-party adapters to make it fit perfectly with your Oculus headset. Once it’s all set up, you...
Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The
The all-new Kindle Paperwhite is already a great buy at its regular price of $139.99. It has a great 6.8-inch display, USB-C charging, and a battery that can last for months — our reviewer calls it “the ultimate Kindle.” If you’ve been eyeing this device, now is a great time to buy it. It’s available on Amazon right now for $104.99, $35 and 25 percent off its original price of $139.99. Other retailers, including Best Buy and Staples, are offering the same price.
Note that this is the ad-supported model — the ad-free version is currently $124.99 ($35 off its original price of $159.99). If you don’t want ads (or to pay the $20 premium for the ad-free model), a savvy move is to get the Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $114.99, which is $45 off...
A Sunbeam Radiant Toaster. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
My colleague Tom once introduced you to a modern toaster with two seemingly ingenious buttons: one to briefly lift your bread to check its progress, and another to toast it “a bit more.” I respectfully submit you shouldn’t need a button at all.
That’s because in 1948, Sunbeam engineer Ludvik J. Koci invented the perfect toaster, one where the simple act of placing a slice into one of its two slots would result in a delicious piece of toasted bread. No button, no lever, no other input required. Drop bread, get toast.
Some of you are no doubt already connoisseurs who know what I’m referring to: the Sunbeam Radiant Toaster, sold from 1949 all the way through the late ‘80s. (It goes by many names, including the T-20A, T-20-B, T20-C, T-35,...
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Getting something great costs less than $50
Image: Evercade
The original Evercade was an extremely niche device. It posited a future where dedicated video game handhelds not only thrived, but even still used cartridges. In a world where there are so many ways to play retro games — subscription services, compilations, emulation — it offered something very different. It didn’t make sense for everyone, but it did its job very well. Now the family has grown with the Evercade VS. If the original was a modern take on the Game Boy, this is its NES counterpart. It’s still niche and aimed at a very specific audience — and still does its job very well.
At its most basic, the Evercade VS is a home console version of the original device. It’s a white plastic box that supports up to four controllers, includes...
Image: LG
As Black Friday approaches, several retailers are already offering significant discounts — and Walmart is no exception. Right now, the retail giant is dropping early Black Friday deals on everything from the AirPods Pro to the most popular TVs and streaming devices.
We’ve featured a few of these items in our guide to early Black Friday deals, however, the list below highlights all of the best sales Walmart is offering across several categories rather than just a few. It’s perfect, then, for anybody who plans on shopping primarily at Walmart.
The store will continue to publish more deals as we get closer to the big day, with many of the better deals going live on November 22nd, according to a recent online circular. If you subscribe to...
Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge
Black Friday is just around the corner, but lots of retailers are already dropping prices ahead of everyone's favorite shopping holiday. Right now at Target, we’re seeing great discounts on everything from Beats Studio 3 headphones to the Fitbit Versa 2 fitness tracker. We’ve already highlighted some of these products in our guide to early Black Friday deals, but this list is perfect for anyone doing most of their shopping at this particular retailer.
If you’re doing your shopping elsewhere over Black Friday, we’ve also gathered all the best deals you can currently get ahead of the 26th from Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Also, for anyone biding their time, we’ve put together a guide to help you find the best deals on Cyber Monday.
We’ll...
As Thanksgiving approaches, many people will have the opportunity to relax, unwind, and log the kind of gaming hours only possible during an extended holiday weekend. Halo Infinite’s multiplayer will likely be a highly popular choice, almost guaranteeing servers will be crammed with players the way Los Angeles’ 405 freeway is crammed with travelers every Thanksgiving season. So, in the event you just can’t connect to a game of capture the flag, or if you have no interest in the multiplayerat all, here are the best non-Halo Infinite games we’re playing to make it through the holiday. — Ash Parrish
Andrew —Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier
It turns out the thing that finally pulled me away from _Fortnite_was a game...
Amazon has wide-ranging discounts on products, including its own network of hardware. | Chris Welch / The Verge
If you’ve been tracking Amazon’s lead-up to Black Friday like we have, you’ve likely seen the online retail giant rebrand its “Deal of the Day” page to “Epic Daily Deals” and now “Early Black Friday Deals.” We’re nearly on the precipice of full-on Black Friday sales everywhere — when that landing page will be transformed yet again — but there’s already a lot to consider if you plan on getting your holiday shopping done early. In fact, Amazon has a slew of deals worth jumping on now if time is of the essence.
Below are a variety of deals worth your time and attention, especially if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber. If you’re cross-shopping at the other major retailers, we’ve also put together a more general roundup of the best early...
Few gadgets are more hated than the alarm clock, a device whose primary purpose is to rudely rip you from the pleasant world of sleep into the cold, harsh, unforgiving reality that we live in every day — and whose level of functionality is directly proportional to how goddamn annoying the beeping sound it can make is.
But within virtually all alarm clocks is also a crucial reprieve: the snooze button, a temporary salve for the alarm’s cruel clarion call, a stay of execution for the day you will inevitably have to face. It is the phrase “just a few more minutes” rendered in plastic.
The alarm clock here is a Sharp SPC028B, bought from a Walmart somewhere in Pennsylvania ahead of my time as a sleepaway camp counselor over a decade ago....
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Spotify is testing a new TikTok-style video feed in its beta iOS app that shows fullscreen video clips as songs are played, TechCrunch reports. The feature was first spotted by Chris Messina, who posted a video of the feed in action. When available, the video feed is accessible from a new fourth tab in the navigation bar labelled “Discover.” Individual tracks can then be liked as you scroll through the feed, and there’s also a three dot menu icon to bring up options for each song.
Spotify confirmed the test in a statement provided to TechCrunch, but declined to comment on if or when it might see a wider rollout. “At Spotify, we routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve our user experience,” a spokesperson said. “Some of...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Pinterest has settled a lawsuit brought against it by shareholders who claimed that the company’s workplace discrimination against women and racial minorities hurt its reputation, according to NBC News. The company reportedly agreed to spend $50 million on improving its diversity and equity, and will let former employees talk about racial or gender discrimination they experienced, even if they were bound by a non-disclosure agreement. Other financial details of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
The lawsuit was filed against the company’s executives in November 2020, with shareholder claiming that the company was acting irresponsibly by doing nothing to address “widespread claims of race and gender discrimination.” The complaint also...
Image: Elsonic, via Nojima Online
Another day, another interesting gadget making the rounds on the internet — this one is a very tall (aspect ratio-wise anyway) portable monitor with an 8.8-inch display running at a resolution of 420 by 1920. It’s called the Elsonic EK-MD088, and while its size, shape, and built-in stand make it intriguing, it also raises the question: what would you even use such a narrow monitor for? And are there better ways to spend your 14,800 yen (around $130 US dollars)?
Gizmodo points out the most obvious use case for such a tall screen: it seems tailor-made for endlessly scrolling through Twitter or Instagram, keeping the gloom of the internet ever-present off to the side of your work. Honestly, that seems like a great way to destroy your brain...
If you’re unable to sign into Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net, the online service underpinning Overwatch, Call of Duty: Warzone, Hearthstone, Diablo’s online features and more, that’s because it’s experiencing some significant issues — ones which Blizzard is currently pinning on a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, where servers get overwhelmed with coordinated traffic.
Screenshot by Richard Lawler / The Verge
Blizzard is stating that it’s a DDoS on its verified customer service Twitter account, and additionally in a “Breaking News” item you may see in the PC Battle.net client when you attempt to sign in.
[#BNet] We are currently experiencing a DDoS attack, which may result in high latency and...
Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images
It has been less than a year since NBA Top Shot served as an introduction for many sports fans into the world of NFTs, and now the NFL is lining up a similar arrangement. In September, the league announced a partnership with the company that runs Top Shot, Dapper Labs, and now we know the name of the service that will distribute the video highlight clips that make up the “Moments” that become NFTs: NFL All Day.
This effort is separate from the Ticketmaster-powered NFTs that the NFL is tying to selected games this season (like the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving appearance on national TV), but launching the branding now doesn’t feel like a coincidence. There will be many blockchain and NFT discussions amongst family members on Thursday,...
One of 13 remaining copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution. | Image: Sotheby’s
As of last Thursday night, ConstitutionDAO found itself in possession of around $49.8 million it wasn’t able to spend. The group’s organizers only had a mandate to spend the crowdfunded money on one thing — a rare copy of the US Constitution that they failed to win at auction — so instead of trying to get community approval to use the money toward some other goal, they instead began the process of returning the funds to backers.
Returning that much money has been a tricky process, though. Backers have to manually request refunds, so even a week later, tens of millions of dollars are still sitting in ConstitutionDAO’s pockets. And because all of the money was collected in Ether, and sending funds over Ethereum incurs high transaction...
THE BRONX, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2015/11/20: Gold shovels surround tree to be planted at Joyce Kilmer Park. | Photo by Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Trees have become a contentious piece of Democrats’ Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation bill that encompasses sweeping social and environmental programs. Congressional Republicans have seized on the $3 billion in the proposed nearly $2 trillion bill earmarked for planting trees, with a focus on boosting ‘tree equity’ — despite the fact that this is a strategy that experts say could reduce health disparities in cities.
While opponents have called the tree equity provisions an indicator of Democrats’ “reckless spending spree” and a “waste [of] even more taxpayer dollars,”in reality, disparities in tree coverage across American cities are a huge problem that affects heat exposure, air quality and more, with serious...
Elf is one of 10 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade NFTs up for auction. | Image: Macy’s
Macy’s department stores might be closed this Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t mean the company has run out of things to sell. The retailer is auctioning off 10 one-of-a-kind NFTs to mark the 95th year of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Each NFT references a parade balloon from decades past, going back to a black and white toy soldier from the 1920s. Also featured is an elf character from the 2000s and a spaceman from the 1950s, who lost an arm in the 1955 parade after colliding with a lamppost (the NFT version is fully inflated). Proceeds from the auction benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, with current bids generating tens of thousands of dollars. The auction ends on November 30th.
In addition to the 10 unique NFTs, Macy’s is...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (or FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have issued a joint statement announcing a plan to clarify the rules and regulations around how banks can use cryptocurrencies over the next year (via Bloomberg).
The agencies say they’re focusing on setting expectations for what banks can do when it comes to holding crypto, allowing customers to obtain crypto, issuing their own stablecoins (or cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to a fiat currency like the US dollar), and taking crypto as collateral for loans and keeping it on their balance sheets. According to the letter, the goal is to make sure consumers are protected and that banks act responsibly. The...
Dragon Age 4 has lost its senior creative director. According to a report from Kotaku, Matt Goldman left BioWare after working at the Mass Effect, Anthem, and Knights of the Old Republic developer for four years. In an email shared with Kotaku, BioWare general manager Gary McKay wrote, “We understand that Matt’s departure has an impact on you, as well as the game’s development. Rest assured our commitment to a high-quality Dragon Age game has not wavered, and we will not ship a game that is not up to BioWare’s standards.”
A BioWare spokesperson also commented on Goldman’s departure to The Verge, saying, “He leaves the next Dragon Age game in excellent hands, with the team here at the studio who will carry forward our vision for the...
3LAU, aka Justin Blau, performing in 2016 in New York City. | Photo by Brian Killian/Getty Images
One big knock on cryptocurrencies is that they’re a technology in search of a problem. Venture capitalists want to put everything on the blockchain and generate big returns, but why not just use a database instead? To skeptics, everything else in the space looks like noise — a bunch of grifters and try-hards changing their Twitter profile pictures to pixelated punks and apes in an effort to eventually flip those NFTs to a greater fool.
But even as my mentions and direct messages fill up with readers fulminating about crypto — last week, after this piece, a paid subscriber wrote to me telling me he hopes that I die! — good and useful new things keep revealing themselves. Like a video game that pays you to play it. Or a series of free NFTs...
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg at CES 2019. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
As the Federal Aviation Administration continues examining whether mid-band 5G spectrum could pose a risk to aircraft safety systems, Verizon and AT&T have offered to dial back the power coming from 5G cell towers for a period of six months to ease any industry concerns. Both carriers are preparing to launch crucial upgrades to their respective 5G networks using spectrum acquired in the C-band auction. This will lead to more robust 5G connectivity and faster speeds compared to the base-level 5G experience that Verizon and AT&T currently offer today.
In early November, both companies agreed to push back the rollout by an additional month to January 2022. In a letter sent to the FCC today, they made clear that they’ll be moving forward...
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
If you’re a long-time Android user, you’re used to long-pressing the power button to (logically) power your phone on or off. For a while, long-pressing the button while the phone was on also enabled you to restart it, lock it down, or signal an emergency. (For a short time during Android 10, you could also use it to take screenshots.)
So you may have been a little perturbed if, after you upgraded your phone to Android 12, you found that long-pressing the power button did not bring up the shut-down menu but instead activated Google Assistant. This is something that was instituted with the new version of the OS, and it’s supposed to be A Good Thing.
Long-pressing the power button can bring up this menu...
...
William Joel / The Verge
Buying a new phone can be a chore, but we’ve done the work for you
The latest Amazon Fire HD tablet is 50 percent off today at Staples. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Staples has launched its early Black Friday sales and is discounting a diverse range of items. While some are naturally very specific to office work — the retailer is currently offering up to 60 percent printer paper, for example — there are also some solid deals on smart displays, earbuds, and other tech products, many of which can also be found in our detailed guide to the best early Black Friday deals. To help you take advantage of the best deals before they sell out, however, we’ve curated a list of some of the top discounts Staples is currently offering, from the HomePod mini to Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K.
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri will testify before Congress for the first time next month, as first reported by _The New York Times_on Wednesday.
Mosseri’s December testimony follows months of scrutiny from Senate lawmakers concerned over how Facebook can harm the mental health of young users. Since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal Facebook reports to the Wall Street Journalearlier this year, senators have held a series of hearings on how products like Instagram can encourage self-injurious behaviors in teens, especially in young women.
The Senate Commerce Committee’s consumer protection subcommittee held its first hearing in this series in September with Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis. Responding to the...
On Wednesday, Virgin Galactic announced its first sweepstakes winner that the space tourism company is sending to space. The winner, Keisha S. (her last name is being withheld by the company), is a health coach from Antigua and Barbuda. She will be the first person from the Caribbean islands to visit space and hopes to bring her daughter, who studies astrophysics, on the spacecraft with her as her guest.
“I’ve always had a lifelong love of flying and a fascination with space.”
“I’ve always had a lifelong love of flying and a fascination with space,” Keisha said in a press release. “This is truly a dream come true for me.”
The sweepstakes was done in partnership with Omaze, a fundraising company, and Space for Humanity, a nonprofit that...
Ring has built the perfect smart home hub for most people... just not for me
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Cameras and lenses can be a tricky thing to shop for around Black Friday. They are no small investment, though if you’re shopping for that lucky someone — or for yourself — there are some deals to be had that can save you a lot of money.
We have vetted and rounded up the most notable deals from the major camera manufacturers, focusing on the latest mirrorless systems. It’s hard to justify spending big money on a new DSLR in 2021, as it may be better to look to the secondhand market for those older systems. Another hard truth is that some camera manufacturers have been plagued by the chip shortages on the latest models, and the deals on tap show that — many of the deeper discounts are on slightly older cameras, and some newer releases...
The Amazon Echo Show family of smart displays. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
From Alexa to Google, the best smart displays to buy right now
Roku LE, or is it SE? | Image: Roku
Ever since it appeared as the original Netflix streaming box, Roku has delivered internet video via box, stick, or embedded TV software. However, for Black Friday this year, Roku is releasing its cheapest device that I can remember seeing, the $15 Roku LE Streaming Player.
Buying the remote by itself costs $15
It’s a 1080p-only box that does exactly what you’d expect from a Roku player, but it will only be available from Walmart.com today and in Walmart stores on the 26th. We don’t have detailed specs, but it’s the same box Roku offered last year on Black Friday for $17, which has been selling at Walmart for $30 or so ever since as the Roku SE.
For Roku and Walmart, it doesn’t really matter where this box came from. Walmart gets a cheap...
The Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. | Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Holiday shopping and broken supply chains have made a pollution crisis worse
The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s four rear cameras. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Samsung has released a new camera app in beta that lets you use Pro Mode across all four of the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s rear cameras. That means it’s supported on both telephoto cameras, rather than being limited to just its main and ultrawide sensors. The new Expert RAW app has been released in the South Korean Galaxy Store, but tipster FrontTron has an APK available to download if you’d like to sideload it. It only seems to be available for the S21 Ultra for now, on devices running Android 12.
The new app overcomes a limitation of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is that its stock camera’s Pro Mode is only available with two out of its four rear cameras (aka the 108-megapixel main camera and 12-megapixel ultrawide, but not the 10-megapixel 10x...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Gamers are served up all kinds of great deals throughout the year. It’s not uncommon for recently released games to drop as much as 20 percent off in the first few months of release or to snag the occasional one-off deal on a controller or headset. But Black Friday and Cyber Monday are something special — a chance to get in on the year’s best offers all at once.
Like 2020, the holidays in 2021 are a bit peculiar, what with the ongoing pandemic and chip shortage. There’s no shortage of games and accessories, but fewer consoles are available for first-time buyers to gift, which means the opportunities to get one are very rare and very popular. Some retailers have even taken to charging subscription fees that offer you a boosted chance of...
Image: Roblox
Game and social platform Roblox has sued a YouTube creator it banned from the platform over harassment and sexual content, saying he amassed a “mob” that temporarily shut down its October developers conference. The Roblox Corporation filed a complaint against Benjamin Robert Simon, also known as Ruben Sim, for breaching its user contract and violating anti-hacking laws. “Defendant Simon is the leader of a ‘cybermob’ that with malice, fraud, and oppression, commits and encourages unlawful acts designed to injure Roblox and its users,” the suit claims, seeking $1.65 million in damages.
_Polygon_initially reported the existence of the California lawsuit this morning. In it, Roblox says it banned Simon for attempting to upload a near-nude...
Photo by The Verge
Back in February 2020, we ran an article explaining how to use the handy call screening functionality that Google had introduced for its Pixel phones. Screen Call, Google’s screening app, allows you to screen calls for numbers you don’t recognize (or people you don’t particularly want to talk to).
Nearly two years later, and with Android 12, the company has added some useful features that can not only save you from having to deal with spam calls but can keep you from having to deal with the tedious and frustrating process of working through call menus. And some of them are available even if you don’t have a Pixel.
How does call screening work? When you get a phone call from someone who is not in your contact list, you get a “Screen...
What are the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for iPhones this year? Read on to find out. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Need a new phone? Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a great time to be shopping for a phone for yourself or as a gift to your nearest and dearest this holiday season. This is the time of year when retailers and carriers are dropping their best deals, whether it’s to make room for next year’s models or to sign up new cellular customers. Android users can cash in on a number of excellent deals from the likes of Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and Motorola; however, Apple is notoriously stingy when it comes to iPhone discounts. You might get a gift card or a pair of AirPods when buying an iPhone, or a carrier might offer a higher trade-in value for a “free” iPhone.
Here are all the best Black Friday phone deals we’ve found so far. If possible, we...
You can save big on_Halo: The Master Chief Collection, gaming headsets, and accessories at GameStop._
GameStop’s Black Friday sales have begun, kicking off huge savings on digital and physical copies of games, gaming keyboards, and headsets for their lowest prices ever. There are even a number of excellent promotions that are of great value, whether you’re trying to snag a new console or build out your existing library.
Of course, GameStop isn’t the only place with the best early Black Friday deals, so make sure to check out our ever-expanding guide to Black Friday, as well as our retailer and brand-specific pages if you’re looking to cash in on more great savings.
Xbox All Access is a program that’s been offered by Microsoft before but represents a unique opportunity for anyone that’s still trying to score an Xbox Series X...
Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are big, slippery phones that can benefit from a good case | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
As wonderful as the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are, their smooth glass backs are extremely slippery, as Dan Seifert mentioned in his review. And the official Google frosted recycled plastic cases are not great solutions, thanks to their cheap feel and still slippery finish. So, where does that leave you, the new owner of Google’s flagship phone? You can’t just leave your pristine new phone naked. That’s why we’ve rounded up some third-party cases that befit the Pixel’s unique design, whether you’re looking for a case for yourself or gifting a case to a new Pixel 6 owner. Just be aware that cases may be out of stock or slow to ship, so you’ll need a lot of luck and patience to find your ideal case this holiday season.
Illustration by Richard Parry
Help your loved ones stay healthy and happy with gifts suitable for all budgets
Fortnite’s next big in-game event won’t just mark the end of the latest season — it’ll also draw chapter 2 to a close as well. Called, appropriately, “The End,” the one-time-only event will take place on December 4th at 4PM ET. Developer Epic describes it as “one last stand for the fate of the island,” suggesting that players will soon be playing on a brand-new map.
Fortnite’s last chapter-ending event was arguably its most ambitious, when a black hole destroyed the battle royale’s original island, taking the game offline for several daysbefore chapter 2 emerged. There are no hints as to what chapter 3 might look like when it debuts in early December.
This season has been building towards some kind of cataclysmic event from the...
The Elecjet Apollo Ultra graphene battery charges five times faster than conventional power banks. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
The Elecjet Apollo Ultra power bank charges five times faster than conventional battery packs
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Black Friday sales are in full swing, and now some popular streaming services are starting to join the party. Through November 29th, both new and returning customers who qualify for the deal can enjoy 12 months of Hulu’s ad-supported streaming service for just $1 per month. Typically $7 per month — or $84 per year — that equates to a $72 discount or about 85 percent off. While you’ll see an ad popping up every now and then with this plan, you can still access all of Hulu’s TV shows and movies on your TV, streaming box, tablet, laptop, console, and other devices. Two people are also allowed to simultaneously stream on this plan as well, and you can have up to six users profiles.
While newcomers to Hulu shouldn’t face any obstacles in...
Verge wireframe logomark T-shirt.
We relaunched The Verge Merch Store a month ago for our 10th anniversary — and now, we’re giving Verge fans an extra special treat for Black Friday / Cyber Monday.
Now through 11:59PM ET on Monday, November 29th, use promo code VERGEBFat checkoutto get 20 percent off your purchase on our online store. Treat someone special — including yourself! — to Verge merch this holiday season.
We love hearing from all of you about what kinds of items you’d like to see added to the store next, so be sure to leave a comment below with your requests. Coffee mugs? Baby onesies? Tote bags? Bandanas? Mouse pads? You tell us!
Check out all of our Black Friday coverage here — and don’t forget to subscribe to our _Verge Deals_newsletter for all of the...
Tying your content to hardware may not be such a great idea in the long run. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
When gyms and fitness boutiques closed their doors in early 2020, it was fitness tech’s moment to shine. Stuck at home, people needed new ways to stay active — and for many, that meant stepping into the world of connected fitness. Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure was impossible to find. Fitness influencers turned to Instagram to broadcast live workouts. Even big tech companies started getting into wearables or launching their own on-demand fitness services. But no one had a year quite like Peloton.
Ironically, Peloton started 2020 as the butt of everyone’s jokes thanks to a terrible holiday commercial gone viral. Nobody was laughing a few short months later. When lockdowns began, Peloton started by offering a free 90-day trial to its app —...
The sticker maker lets you crop out a background, and add extra flourishes like emoji. | Image: WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s web version has been updated with a built-in custom Sticker Maker, which lets you turn ordinary images from your computer into stickers that can be sent via the messaging service. To access it, click the paperclip (attachments) icon, select Sticker, and then pick an image to upload. As well as WhatsApp’s web version, the feature is also coming to its Desktop apps in the next week.
Once uploaded, images can be edited to turn them into the perfect sticker. An outline can be drawn around a picture’s subject to cut out the background, and images can also be cropped (though always in a square aspect ratio). Emoji, text, and additional WhatsApp stickers can also be layered on top of your sticker creations.
Being able to make your...
Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge
If you’re hunting for an Xbox Series X, you might want to check your email inbox. Microsoft has been emailing out special links over the past week to the Microsoft Store, that let you directly order an Xbox Series X bundle. Microsoft says it has a “limited supply of Xbox Series X bundles” that are available to “valued Microsoft customers” in the US.
The emails are addressed to Microsoft Store customers, and bundles are available on a first-come and first-serve basis. Microsoft is limiting orders to one bundle per order, or two bundles per 30-day period. The links to order a bundle are unique and tied to a Microsoft Account, and don’t always guarantee that stock is available for a purchase.
Microsoft has been offering Xbox Series X...
The latest game to come to Netflix’s fledgling gaming service is the racing title Asphalt Xtreme, TechCrunch reports. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because the mobile game was originally released in October 2016 but was subsequently pulled from app stores at the end of September 2021. A trailer for the game released on Netflix’s YouTube channel notes that it will be available “exclusively” for the service’s subscribers, with no ads or in-app purchases.
It’s an interesting launch that sees Netflix’s gaming service borrowing from its video streaming playbook. Rather than exclusively releasing all-new, original titles, Netflix seems to be bulking out its catalog by licensing previously released games. Same as how Netflix’s video...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter has updated its iOS app to prevent those annoying situations where tweets disappear as you’re trying to read them, the company has announced. “Now when you pause your timeline scrolling to look at a Tweet, it should stay put!” the company tweeted.
The updates made on iOS follow similar improvements made on the web version of Twitter last week. Twitter explained that tweets can disappear when replies are being added to an ongoing conversation, because this would push existing tweets up the timeline. “We know it’s a frustrating experience, so we’re working on changing it,” the company said in September.
We’ve made some updates on iOS to prevent Tweets from disappearing mid-read. Now when you pause your timeline scrolling to look...
But you need to really hate the look of televisions
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Apple is planning to partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for the production of its own 5G modems for future iPhones, according to a new report in Nikkei. Apple is said to be planning to use TSMC’s 4nm process node, which hasn’t yet been deployed for any commercial product; the modem is apparently being designed and tested at 5nm before moving to mass production in 2023 at 4nm.
Apple’s switch to modems of its own design is widely expected to happen in 2023, and TSMC is the natural manufacturing partner. Qualcomm, which is the dominant player in the industry and produces modem components for the entire iPhone 13 lineup, recently said that it expects to account for just 20 percent of iPhone modem orders in two years’ time.
Image: JRR Token
It seems our prediction that a Lord of the Rings-themed “JRR Token” cryptocurrency was destined for the fires of Mount Doom was accurate — the World Intellectual Property Organization (or WIPO) has declared that it violated a trademark belonging to the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien, and ordered that one of the project’s web domains be transferred to that estate (via the Financial Times).
If you’re unfamiliar with JRR Token (not Tolkien), here’s the lore — it was a cryptocurrency project that drew heavy inspiration from The Lord of the Rings. Its tagline was “The One Token That Rules Them All,” its website featured Tolkien-esque imagery of rolling hills and wizards, and there was even a promotional video featuring an actor from the...
Photo by Ethan Swope/Getty Images
Holmes confesses to a passion for graphic design
Twitter verified a fake account for Norway’s new Minister of Finance, but apparently, it’s not Twitter’s fault. As first reported by Norwegian tech site NRKbeta, the Prime Minister’s Office and Norway’s Security Authority (NSM) mistakenly passed along a fake account for verification.
Twitter has verified a fake account portraying the Norwegian Minister of Finance, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum.
The Norwegian Ministry of Finance confirms the story to news agency NTB: https://t.co/dcpINS9ZhSpic.twitter.com/U6MvNk93d0
— Ståle Grut (@stalebg) November 22, 2021
Norway’s Minister of Finance, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, has never had a Twitter account. The report states that several fake accounts impersonating Vedum cropped up since he was elected...
Image: BioWare
According to a report by Deadline, Amazon isn’t relying on the just-launched_Wheel of Time_ series and its upcoming Lord of the Rings show to pull in sci-fi/fantasy viewers. The entertainment news outlet reports that Amazon is “nearing a deal to develop a series” based on the Mass Effect games.
While Electronic Arts and BioWare have not announced a series, there have been more than a few hints. Earlier this year, the project director for EA’s remastered Mass Effect: Legendary Edition trilogy set told Business Insider that it’s “not a matter of if, but when” a movie or TV show project appears relating to the game.
There was also that interesting Instagram post in February from Henry Cavill, who may want to add male Commander Shepard to his...
Image: Apple
Apple’s digital driver’s license / ID feature won’t be coming until “early 2022,” according to an update to Apple’s iOS 15 page that MacRumors noticed. The change comes after news broke that Apple was looking for strict control over how states roll out the feature, which was previously listed as coming late this year.
Originally announced at WWDC 2021, Apple says that the feature will let you use its Wallet app to store your digital identification for use at airport security checkpoints. Of course, the system is dependent on your state supporting it — the company announced that Arizona and Georgia would be the first to let citizens add their licenses to their phones (with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah...
Image: Nintendo
Chris Pratt’s voice as Mario is “phenomenal,” says one of the men who has the most to gain if that’s true. But Pratt likely won’t be putting on Mario’s familiar fake Italian accent for the majority of the film.
When asked to defend the casting of Chris Pratt (a white American man best known as the Guardians of the Galaxy’s Star-Lord) as Mario (a denizen of the Mushroom Kingdom previously voiced by a white American man of French descent attempting to sound like an Italian plumber from Brooklyn at the request of the character’s Japanese creators, just so we’re clear), producer and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri suggested to TooFab that it’s OK because:
Funko Pop is teaming up with ViacomCBS for its latest “Digital Pop” NFT collectibles, with a new series of blockchain-based cards featuring classic Star Trek characters.
Funko’s “Digital Pop” NFTs aren’t a new thing: they’ve been around since July, and the new Star Trek ones are just the latest incarnation. And as is the case with the other Digital Pop sets, certain specific rare NFTs cards will also include a free physical Funko Pop figure too, which is a potentially nice bonus.
But there’s something uniquely depressing about Star Trek NFTs specifically, given the utopian ideals of the Federation and the very intentionally post-scarcity world in which the franchise is set. Thanks to the ubiquity of advanced technology like replicators...
Photo by Henning Kaiser/picture alliance via Getty Images
PlayStation has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges gender discrimination and wrongful termination, as first reported by Axios. According to the details of the lawsuit, former IT security analyst Emma Majo is seeking to establish a class action suit to represent other women who might’ve been affected by PlayStation’s alleged gender discrimination. The lawsuit claims that “Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees,” alleging that women were denied promotions and weren’t paid equally to male workers who held similar positions.
This comes less than a week after PlayStation boss Jim Ryan sent out an email to employees condemning Activision Blizzard’s response to reports of CEO Bobby...
One of 13 remaining copies of the Official Edition of the Constitution. | Image: Sotheby’s
The organizers behind ConstitutionDAO have decided to shut the group down after raising $47 million in cryptocurrency and then failing to win an auction for a rare copy of the US Constitution.
Many members of ConstitutionDAO had expressed hope that the group could live on, albeit with some alternative goal given that there are currently no other famous copies of the Constitution at auction. Group leaders initially floated launching a new token for members who wanted to take part in the group’s continuation, called We The People tokens, but later backtracked, saying they should have given it more consideration. It was never made clear what, exactly, the group might focus on if it were to continue.
“The community has taken all actions that...
The home security experts at Simplisafe are offering big discounts on their home security systems during a Black Friday sale that runs until December 1st. This sale is marking down any new security system by up to 60 percent and will throw in a free indoor camera for your trouble. (If you’re still shopping around, make sure to pay a visit to our Black Friday hub with ongoing coverage of the best early Black Friday deals.)
Our own smart home expert, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, says that “Simplisafe is a good, easy-to-use smart security system that doesn’t rely solely on an app — you can manage the whole system from its keypad. It also has a decent selection of smart home devices to add on to your system, including an excellent door lock and...
McMurdo Station in Antarctica | United States Antarctic Program
On a volcanic rock just off the coast of Antarctica, McMurdo Station is abuzz with scientific research this time of year. Run by the US National Science Foundation, the station sees up to 1,000 visitors in the Antarctic summer from October to February, who travel here to conduct research on topics ranging from climate to ocean science.
But despite its central role in Antarctic research, McMurdo is lacking something most scientists working at 21st-century laboratories take for granted: high-speed internet.
McMurdo sits on the only continent that doesn’t have a high-speed fiber optic cable connection to the rest of the world. That could soon change, however.
Earlier this year, the NSF began seriously exploring the possibility of building...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Mozilla announced last week via a support article that its Firefox Lockwise password manager app will reach end-of-life on December 13th. The final release versions are 1.8.1 (iOS) and 4.0.3 (Android) and will no longer be available to download or reinstall after that date.
What started in 2018 as a small experimental mobile app called Lockbox ended up bringing a way to access saved passwords and perform autofills on iOS, Android, and desktop devices to a small but enthusiastic following of Firefox fans. The app was also later adapted as a Firefox extension. It seemed like it was apt to stick around for the long run.
The login screen for the Lockwise app in iOS advertises Mozilla’s other active products like Mozilla VPN...
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are often thought of as times to stock up on smaller investments on the cheap, like headphones, games, and other gadgets you may not have wanted to pay full price for. But it’s also a great time to save on big-ticket items, like that laptop you’ve maybe had your eye on. The shopping holidays have brought some seriously good discounts on laptops, whether you’re keen on sticking with Mac, or you want a Windows PC. Both often come in very slim designs, but for people who don’t mind a heavier laptop, we’ve included some gaming laptop picks.
The kinds of deals you can get on laptops vary depending on the retailer, so that’s how we’ve split up the deals.
Apple’s MacBook Air with the M1...
Polestar teased its gorgeous sedan concept, the Polestar Precept, giving it a new name — Polestar 5 — and a 2024 production date.
The company first revealed the Precept in concept form back in February, with sporty intentions, a software system powered by Google’s Android, and an interior chock-full of sustainable material. This week, Polestar posted a video in which we got the closest look at the new car yet.
The company first revealed the Precept in concept form back in February
Polestar, which started out as the performance sub-brand of Volvo, has emerged as one of the more interesting EV companies on the market. The company, which is jointly owned by Volvo and Volvo’s parent company, Geely, recently announced plans to go public by...
Image: Asus
The Asus ROG Phone 5S and ROG Phone 5S Pro are finally available in the US. You can snag the 5S model with 16GB of RAM for $1,099 on Amazon and Mobile Advance. The 5S model also has an option for 12GB of RAM, but there’s currently no option to order that one on either site.
On the higher end of the scale, the 5S Pro packs 18GB of RAM and goes for $1,299 on Amazon and Mobile Advance. Just keep in mind that while you can get the 5S in both black and white, the 5S Pro only comes in black.
Both gaming phones have the Snapdragon 888 Plus, which should offer a small boost in performance when compared to the standard Snapdragon 888 that the Asus ROG Phone 5 and 5 Ultimate come with. The 5S and 5S Pro also offer an improved 360Hz touch-sampling...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Now Apple has followed WhatsApp and its parent company Meta (formerly known as Facebook) in suing Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group. Along with promising new information about how NSO Group infected targeted iPhones via its FORCEDENTRY exploit, the company says it’s “seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services, or devices.”
Apple: NSO agreed to the iCloud Terms of Service
Senior VP of software engineering Craig Federighi says in a statement “State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change...Apple devices are the most secure consumer hardware on the market — but private companies...
Photo by Phil Esposito / The Verge
But for $140,000, is it worth it?
Photo by Yoon S. Byun/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Fortnite maker Epic Games has announced its latest acquisition: Harmonix, the studio behind iconic music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
In a blog post, Harmonix said that support for existing games like Rock Band and Fuser would continue. The studio also explained its plans to expand into — what else? — the metaverse. “Now, we’ll be working with Epic to once again challenge expectations as we bring our unique brand of musical gaming experiences to the metaverse, and we couldn’t be more excited,” the blog post reads. As part of this, Epic says that the studio will “develop musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite.”
Music has become an increasing focus for Epic, following the big success of virtual concerts inside of Fortnite from...
Have you ever played Pokémon Go and thought, “I wish this game let you earn small amounts of Bitcoin by engaging with internet finance memes and a cryptocurrency debit card system?” If so, I don’t believe you, but I have good news.
Fold AR is a new augmented reality game from Pokémon Go developer Niantic and the financial company Fold. The game — which a press release dubs part of the metaverse — is very loosely modeled on _Pokémon Go_but themed around cryptocurrency. As explained by Fold CEO Will Reeves, it runs with the metaphor of “mining” Bitcoin. So instead of capturing cute monsters, the central mechanic involves finding cubes of binary code and tapping them like Minecraft blocks until they reveal a prize.
The prizes...
The AirPods Pro were recently refreshed with a MagSafe compatible charging case. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
The Black Friday season just keeps on rolling, and we keep seeing such exceptional early deals day in and day out. If things keep up at this rate, we may all go broke by the time Black Friday actually arrives — but wow, will we have saved so much money on the coolest tech in the process.
As the days go on, we continue to track the latest deals we can find for you. That means we’re constantly updating our ongoing deal coverage while we check new deals that are worthy of your attention.
Today is no exception, where we have the best price ever on the AirPods Pro. The latest revision of the AirPods Pro, complete with its MagSafe-compatible charging case, has dropped to a historical low of just $159 at Walmart as well as Amazon. That is a...
An artistic rendering of the DART spacecraft approaching Dimorphos | Image: NASA/John Hopkins APL
Takeoff of DART is scheduled for 1:21AM ET on November 24th
Image: Chuck Zlotnick / Marvel Studios
Hawkeye is a few different things. It’s a chance to spend more time with one of the lesser-known Avengers, it’s an origin story for an up-and-coming hero, and it’s a detective drama set amidst the backdrop of Christmas in New York City as the MCU adds yet another genre to its all-enveloping fold. Most importantly, though, it’s a Marvel series that doesn’t take itself too seriously — making the first two episodes unexpectedly fun.
This review contains some light spoilers for the first two episodes of Hawkeye.
Though it’s named after the bow-wielding Avenger, Hawkeye really is a story about two people. Yes, one of those is Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), a surly hero and one-time vigilante who is now doing his best to enjoy life with his...
Electric boat startup Arc has raised $30 million just five months after coming out of stealth mode and has started putting its first prototype through its paces. The Series A funding round was led by Greg Reichow, a partner at Eclipse Ventures and a former vice president of production at Tesla. The round also includes existing Arc investors like Andreessen Horowitz and celebrities like Will Smith, Kevin Durant, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, who first put money into the startup in October through their own funds.
Arc aims to sell a limited number of its first electric boat, the 24-foot Arc One, at an extraordinary price of $300,000 before moving on to making more affordable boats. It plans to justify that price by promising a much lower cost of...
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
In the fight against ongoing allegations of harassment, discrimination, and complaints of insufficient action to address such allegations, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors has announced that the publisher is forming a new committee.
The Activision Blizzard board of directors today announced that it has formed a ‘Workplace Responsibility Committee,’ initially comprised of two independent directors, to oversee the company’s progress in successfully implementing its new policies, procedures, and commitments to improve workplace culture and eliminate all forms of harassment and discrimination at the company.
The press release — delivered at an extremely late hour during an employee holiday week granted hours before the release of a...
Croatian electric bike manufacturer Greyp Bikes has a new majority shareholder: Porsche. The sports car manufacturer’s venture capital arm, Porsche Ventures, has held a stake of around 10 percent in the e-bike company since 2018.
Greyp (pronounced like the fruit) was founded Mate Rimac — aka “Croatia’s Elon Musk” — the brainchild behind electric supercar startup Rimac Automobili. The company makes highly connected, extremely powerful electric mountain bikes, including the $10,000 flagship, full-suspension G6. The company sells its bikes in Europe and recently launched its US operations based in San Pedro, Calif.
The investment is another sign of Porsche’s confidence in Rimac’s business prowess
The investment is another sign of...
Photo by Reddit
Reddit will shut down its short-form video platform, Dubsmash, on February 22nd, 2022. After February, the app will no longer be available on apps stores and will stop functioning on devices that already have the app.
A competitor to TikTok, Dubsmash was acquired by Reddit late last year with the purpose of embedding its video creation tools into the larger platform. Now that the integration is nearing completion, Reddit is introducing a slew of new video creation tools to its own TikTok-like video feed, courtesy of the Dubsmash team that came over with the buyout.
“Our primary focus, in terms of the acquisition, was around bringing in the expertise from the team, as well as bringing in the technology that we had built over the past five...
2015’s Fairphone 2. | Photo by James Vincent / The Verge
Sustainable smartphone manufacturer Fairphone has released an Android 10 update for the six-year-old Fairphone 2, a device that originally launched with Android 5 in 2015. The update is in beta for the time being, but the company says it hopes to release a stable version early next year. Alongside it, the company also plans to start beta testing an Android 11 update for the 2019 Fairphone 3 and 2020 Fairphone 3 Plus.
Although getting an Android update two years after its original release wouldn’t normally be cause for celebration, it’s basically unheard of for an Android manufacturer to still be updating a handset six years after its original release. Only Apple comes close to these kinds of support periods and recently released its...
Getting the LG C1 OLED TV won’t be cheap, but it’s among the best options out there. | LG
4K TVs of all sizes and specs see price cuts several times throughout the year, but the time when we usually see the highest concentration of stellar deals is right now, as Black Friday hits and Cyber Monday is just around the bend. You’ve ended up in the right place if you’re looking for a TV deal, and yes, that includes people interested in a TV that has every bell or whistle, with the highest contrast ratio and the right features to eke all of the visual splendor from PCs and the latest gaming consoles or something that’s quite the opposite. We’ll be highlighting affordable TVs, too.
Our team at The Verge is hard at work on compiling the best Black Friday deals, running the gamut of retailers participating, as well as breaking it down...
Photo by Spotify
Spotify has introduced a new hub that’s home to all the music from Netflix’s shows and movies. A post on Spotify’s newsroom explains that both free and premium users can access the Netflix hub by searching for “Netflix” on Spotify.
There, you’ll find official playlists from Netflix TV shows like La Casa de Papel, On My Block, and Bridgerton, along with the official soundtracks from Cowboy Bebop, Bruised, Squid Game, and more. It also includes some of Netflix’s official podcasts, such as Okay, Now Listen, Netflix Is a Daily Joke,10/10 (Would Recommend), and The Crown: The Official Podcast, all of which you can access from this single location.
Spotify has rolled out an “enhanced album experience” for Netflix’s The Harder They Fall
S...
Microsoft has created an Xbox metaverse museum where you can roam around and discover the history of Xbox consoles. It’s designed to celebrate 20 years of Xbox and includes some infamous mistakes like the Xbox 360 red ring of death or Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Nintendo in spring 2000.
As you roam around this Xbox museum, you’ll see fellow Xbox players interacting with the digital exhibits and charting the progress of the original Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and the latest Xbox Series X / S consoles. Each moment in the 20-year timeline has an associated story, usually with a video documenting the milestone.
The Xbox museum is a metaverse full of achievements and failures.
There’s even a personal Xbox museum, so if...
For years, Capcom’s Resident Evil franchise has been split in half. There’s the game and animated film series built closely around Shinji Mikami’s 1996 survival horror game. Then there’s the live-action series, a half-dozen barely related blockbusters starring Milla Jovovich. But the newly released Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City aims to change that. It’s a jump-scare-filled live-action adaptation of the earliest Resident Evil games, and it plays out like a 107-minute fan film — which isn’t entirely a bad thing.
The following includes mild narrative and thematic spoilers.
Welcome to Raccoon City, written and directed by Johannes Roberts, merges the plots and characters of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. In the year 1998, the...
Wireless earbuds make a great holiday gift for others or yourself. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
One of the most sought-after gifts every holiday — at least, ever since Apple removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone — has been true wireless earbuds. They are often the favored listening device of many people because they offer the most convenience, and they’re a product category that frequently goes on sale. Full-size headphones offer superior sound, and those have their fair share of early Black Friday discounts to be had, but most casual listeners often prefer earbuds.
Here, we have rounded up all the best early Black Friday deals we can find on wireless earbuds from Apple, Samsung, Bose, Jabra, Beats, and even Google, as well as a couple of lesser-known brands. Each has its own unique qualities or value proposition to...
Acast
Hello, hello. Welcome back to Tuesday; I hope everyone has found ways to keep “working” ahead of the holiday and isn’t daydreaming too much about the hoards of food we here in the US will be eating in just a couple days. Today’s issue is a hodgepodge of things — a nice mix. Today, we’re talking about what happens when a podcast app gets acquired, ExxonMobil “duping” The Daily, and more.
EXCLUSIVE: Acast acquired RadioPublic in February; now podcasters say the company has gone dark on them
In February, Acast, the Europe-based hosting and monetization company, acquired RadioPublic, a podcast player and company known for its creator-centric technology. The acquisition was billed to me as a way for Acast to take over the podcast space and...
One of the best affordable smart speakers you can get is just $20 today. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
If our roundup of the best early Black Friday deals under $50 was outside your budget, don’t worry: there’s also plenty you can buy for under $25. Several retailers are now heavily discounting popular tech products in the short lead-up to Black Friday, discounting everything from Bluetooth trackers and smart speakers to the latest gaming subscriptions.
For your convenience, we’ve curated a list of some of the best sub-$25 options below. If you’re looking for more holiday gift ideas that won’t break the bank, however, we’ve also put together separate budget-based gift guides for items under $25 and $50.
For iPhone owners planning on traveling this holiday season, Amazon’s offering a great deal on Apple’s official AirTag Loop. Given that...
The $499 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and $579 AMD Radeon RX 6800 are still selling well above MSRP. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Sony, Microsoft, Nvidia and AMD say they’re doing everything in their power to put a console or graphics card in your hands. But judging by eBay resale prices, their best won’t be nearly good enough this holiday season. One year after the next generation of gaming was supposed to arrive (narrator: it did not) people are still forking out hundreds of dollars over MSRP for a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, and and they’re often still paying double what a new PC graphics card was originally supposed to cost.
Remember March 2020, when I told you how the two graphics cards in the photo above were worth a combined $2,570 on the open market? That was a shocking leap compared to the $1,660 total they could fetch in December 2020, already well...
Qualcomm reportedly has an exclusivity deal with Microsoft for Windows on Arm licenses. The pair launched Windows on Arm laptops in 2016, and so far we haven’t seen any devices launch without a Qualcomm chip. _XDA-Developers_reports that Qualcomm has had an exclusivity deal on Windows on Arm, but that it’s set to expire soon.
The report comes days after MediaTek held its executive summit with members of the media last week, where it shared its ambitions to build its own chip for Windows on Arm PCs.
If Microsoft’s exclusivity deal is about to end with Qualcomm, this could open the door for many more vendors supporting Windows on Arm. Samsung, MediaTek, and even Apple’s M1 chips could eventually support Windows on Arm.
P...
Samsung already has a presence in Austin, Texas. | Image: Samsung
Samsung is expected to officially announce a new advanced chip-making plant in Texas later today, that’s estimated to cost around $17 billion and could create 1,800 jobs, The Wall Street Journal reports. The new plant will reportedly be located in the city of Taylor, roughly 30 miles away from Austin, where Samsung has an existing facility. The new site is roughly 1,200 acres in size, making it larger than Samsung’s Austin plant, the _WSJ_notes.
The announcement could come as soon as 5pm local time today, when Gov. Greg Abbott is due to make an “economic announcement.” However, the plant isn’t expected to actually start producing chips until the end of 2024, according to previous filings. Eventually, Samsung is expected to begin using the...
Microsoft’s new emoji for Windows 11. | Image: Microsoft
Microsoft is making its Fluent-style emoji available in Windows 11 this week. A new optional update for the OS is rolling out that includes a number of important bug fixes and the new emoji Microsoft previewed earlier this year. While it’s a totally new style, it’s not the 3D look that Microsoft previously promised — the company opted for 2D instead.
The new emoji in Windows 11 includes the return of Clippy, as Microsoft has replaced the standard paperclip emoji with its Clippy character. The emoji have also been redesigned to include bright and saturated colors, but lack the 3D aspects that made them pop.
“The new emoji style is only available in Windows 11 and is 2D,” explains Microsoft in a quiet update to its design blog from July....
The ecosystem isn’t quite ready
Image: Roku
Roku says it’s working to fix issues that users have been reporting following its 10.5 software update. TechCrunch reported the problems earlier on Monday, citing posts on Reddit and Roku forums where users said that apps like HBO Max, ESPN, Disney Plus, and more wouldn’t allow them to watch any video content after updating the OS on their smart TVs.
According to Roku, “certain older Roku TV models or older Roku Ultra players” are affected by the problematic update. In a post on its forum, the company instructs users with Roku Ultra models 4660, 4661, 4662, or 4670, and users with a Roku TV model 7XXX to manually check for a software update, and tells owners of other devices to subscribe to the thread for future details.
System update...