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Photo by Sean Rayford / Getty Images South Carolina Republican politicians distanced themselves from a widely criticized plan to outlaw offering abortion guidance online — a proposal that raised fears about internet censorship after the end of Roe v. Wade . Lawmakers introduced the proposed abortion ban in June, basing it on model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). Among other provisions, the proposal would have banned “hosting or maintaining an internet website, providing access to an internet website, or providing an internet service” that told people from the state how to obtain an abortion. Groups like the Knight First Amendment Institute argued that the model legislation raised serious First Amendment questions , and its introduction in South... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23327122/south-carolina-rejects-nrlc-model-legislation-abortion-law-internet-ban-speech

T-Mobile is embracing eSIM. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge T-Mobile is pushing some new app features focused on getting prospective customers to switch with as little friction as possible, all thanks to eSIM technology. There’s a new version of the existing Test Drive program called Network Pass, which allows people to try out T-Mobile’s network with unlimited data for three months. Another new feature called Easy Switch aims to streamline the process of setting up a new account with T-Mobile using eSIM. They’re all part of an update to the company’s app coming to iOS today, with an Android update to follow “soon.” T-Mobile already supports switching via eSIM, which is just a digital version of the physical SIM card you probably have in your phone. In fact, the Department of Justice made sure... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23329133/t-mobile-app-network-pass-easy-switch-esim

The flooded Windsor Bridge along the Hawkesbury River in the suburb of Windsor, on July 4th, 2022, in Sydney, Australia. Thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes overnight. | Photo by Jenny Evans / Getty Images We’re about to see the first “triple-dip” La Niña of the century, spanning three consecutive Northern hemisphere winters, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicts. The organization issued a forecast today warning of the unusual turn of events: the current La Niña, a weather pattern that can drive severe weather, will likely persist over the next six months into 2023. “It is exceptional to have three consecutive years” “It is exceptional to have three consecutive years with a la Niña event,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a press release . The phenomenon is expected to continue fueling bad weather across far-flung corners of the world. La Niña typically shows up every two to seven years, usually lasting a year... Continue readi...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Congress wants to know what Coinbase, Binance.US, FTX, Kraken, and KuCoin are doing to address scams related to cryptocurrency. In separate letters sent to each crypto exchange, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform expresses concern over “the rapid growth of fraud and consumer abuse,” as well as the “lack of action by cryptocurrency exchanges to protect consumers conducting transactions.” The committee’s letters cite data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicating that over 46,000 people in the US lost a combined $1 billion due to crypto scams since the start of 2021, with individuals losing $2,600 on average. Investment and romance scams have been particularly lucrative for bad actors, who collected about $575 million and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23330623/congress-coinbase-binance-ftx-cryptocurrency-scams

Nick Barclay / The Verge A vulnerability in the TikTok app for Android could have let attackers take over any account that clicked on a malicious link, potentially affecting hundreds of millions of users of the platform. Details of the one-click exploit were revealed today in a blog post from researchers on Microsoft’s 365 Defender Research Team. The vulnerability was disclosed to TikTok by Microsoft, and has since been patched. The bug and its resulting attack, labelled a “high severity vulnerability,” could have been used to hijack the account of any TikTok user on Android without their knowledge, once they clicked on a specially crafted link. After the link was clicked, the attacker would have access to all primary functions of the account, including the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23329662/tiktok-vulnerability-microsoft-one-click-exploit-high-severity

Hopefully this child isn’t scared by the sounds of a spooky, scary skeleton. | Image: Google Google — along with Starbucks , Spirit Halloween , and seemingly every grocery store in my area — is starting to gear up for fall. It’s bringing seasonal ringtones to the Nest Doorbell (battery) even earlier this year, with the addition of a festive accordion jingle for Oktoberfest that’ll become available in the Google Home App starting September 5th. Like last year , Google will also let you set your doorbell chime to some spooky sounds for Halloween, starting on October 1st. Previously, those included things like witch, werewolf, and ghost sounds. Those are pretty easy to imagine, but here's what the Oktoberfest ringtone sounds like: Oktoberfest isn’t the only new holiday Google’s adding to its seasonal ringtone lineup. Starting on... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23329855/google-nest-doorbell-fall-ringtones-halloween-oktoberfest-diwali

The new Paramount Plus app will feature Showtime’s catalogue | Image: Paramount You can now access the content packed into Paramount Plus and Showtime from a single app. First bundled as a subscription last September, Paramount and Showtime’s catalogs have been separated between two apps for viewers in the US, but viewers can now access the full roster of TV shows and films from the Paramount Plus app. For new subscribers, the Paramount Plus and Showtime bundle is available at a discounted rate until October 2nd, at $7.99 per month for the Essential plan (which includes ad breaks) with Showtime and $12.99 per month for the Premium plan with Showtime that adds more sports, live broadcasts of your local CBS station, and downloads for offline viewing on mobile, and mostly removes ads, except on live TV and certain... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/31/23329389/paramount-plus-showtime-streaming-app-viacom

You can currently find the Sony WF-1000XM5 headphones at Woot for just $340. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Our Tuesday deals begin with the first substantial discount we’ve seen on the Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-canceling headphones. The original price for the XM5 headphones was $399.99, but Woot has discounted them to just $339.99 . If you’re okay with settling for Woot’s 90-day limited warranty instead of the one-year warranty offered by Sony, this is definitely a deal worth looking into. While the XM5 headphones don’t offer any sweeping changes over the previous iteration, the XM4, they still include some of the best noise cancelation capabilities you’ll find in a pair of headphones, in addition to improved sound quality and better performance on voice calls. Read our review . Hot on the heels of some of our Xbox Series S deals from last week,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2022/8/30/23327362/sony-wf-1000xm5-headphones-xbox-series-s-googl...

The Sense75 has RGB lighting that illuminates the desk underneath it. | Image: Drop Mechanical-keyboard-focused retailer Drop has opened preorders for its latest keyboard, the Sense75 . Unlike the retailer’s other recent keyboards like the Icon collection , where it sold pre-existing models in new configurations, the Sense75 is an all-new design — at least for Drop. The Sense75 incorporates a number of recent keyboard design trends popularized by models like the GMMK Pro and Keychron Q1 . It has a compact 75 percent layout that’s similar to what most modern laptops use, there’s a volume knob at the top right, and it uses a gasket-mount design . This means the switches are mounted to a circuit board that’s sandwiched between two gaskets, allowing it to flex slightly as it’s typed on. The design has proved popular with... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23326555/drop-sense75-gasket-mount-75-percent-mechanical-keyboard-volume-knob

Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge Some early adopters of the new, beautiful, and undoubtedly polarizing Dell XPS 13 Plus have reported issues with its screen. Dell has confirmed to The Verge that it is aware of a screen issue on some OLED models of the device. The company is reaching out to impacted customers and appears to be recalling some products. The issue being reported (which is among several that buyers and reviewers have complained of since the Plus’ release) may be that the screws connecting the screen to the chassis appear to be coming loose. A video has been circulating for weeks now of an XPS 13 Plus’ screen falling off in a Best Buy demo area (the video is incorrectly labeled as being of the larger XPS 15). Other users have reported XPS 13 Plus screens... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23328681/dell-xps-13-plus-oled-display-problems

Illustration by Alex Castro Facebook’s Gaming app for iOS and Android is shutting down a little over two years after it launched. In a notice sent to users , Facebook says the app will no longer work or be available to download starting on October 28th, 2022. Facebook launched Gaming in 2018 as a way to compete with Twitch, YouTube, and Mixer (at the time) and later rolled out an accompanying app on mobile in 2020. To help attract users in a market largely dominated by Twitch and YouTube, Facebook Gaming added a creator program , along with additional features to help build out its platform, such as the ability to co-stream . In 2020, Facebook Gaming absorbed Mixer , Microsoft’s failed streaming platform that had the company recruiting streamers like Ninja and Shroud . ... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23328568/facebook-gaming-mobile-app-shutting-down-october-2022

Health information can’t go in the dumpster. After the Supreme Court decided to end federal protection for abortion in June, many abortion advocates and lawmakers started agitating for the Biden administration to make changes to the medical privacy law HIPAA. That’s because HIPAA has many, many gaps and doesn’t actually keep information around abortion safe in many situations. Here’s something HIPAA does do, though — govern garbage! It’s a HIPAA violation for someone to do what the New England Dermatology and Laser Center (NEDLC) did last year : throw away containers with patient labels on them in a parking lot dumpster. The labels had patient names and birthdays on them, and a security guard found them. The Department of Health and Human Services did an investigation , and NEDLC... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23328625/garbage-hipaa-violation-health-information

Emergency SOS via satellite would be a first. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge If you’re the type to read into Apple Event taglines, next week’s “Far Out” event certainly feels... space-y. It’s led Apple prognosticators to revive theories that Apple may be working on satellite features for emergency communications — both for the iPhone and perhaps the rumored Apple Watch Pro . Since the Apple Watch Pro is meant to be a Garmin competitor, satellite features could make it a real contender in the multisport GPS watch space. There’s a lot that Apple needs to do in order to truly compete in this space. Multiday battery life and beefing up durability are numbers 1 and 2 on the list. The competition — Garmin, Polar, Coros — can run laps around the Apple Watch in these two areas. But if there’s one area where Apple already... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23328650/apple-watch-pro-satellite-smartwatch-fitness

The new controller will be available in wired, 2.4Ghz, or Bluetooth wireless flavors 8BitDo is taking a stab at the pro controller market with the release of the 8BitDo Ultimate Controller, which is currently available for preorder on Amazon and begins shipping on October 28th. 8BitDo’s older controllers like the SN30 Pro and Pro 2 have boasted a broad array of compatibility options thanks to their Bluetooth connectivity, but the Ultimate Controller will be available in three different configurations — Bluetooth ($69.99), 2.4Ghz ($49.99), or wired ($34.99) — based on your preferred console and connectivity method. The Bluetooth model will also come packaged with a 2.4Ghz wireless adapter and, along with the wired model, is compatible with the Nintendo Switch, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. The 2.4Ghz exclusive model... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/30/23326887/8bitdo-ultimate-pro-controller-bluetooth-preorder-nintendo-switch-wireless

Photo by Nilay Patel / The Verge Ford’s future electric lineup is coming more into focus. (No, not that Focus .) After scoring a big win with the F-150 Lightning, Ford is developing a new electric truck that will likely go on sale in 2025, according to Automotive News . Details are scarce, but the new EV truck will sit alongside an electric Ford Explorer, as well as the automaker’s Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning, as Ford’s family of electric vehicles begins to fill out by the mid-point of the decade. Ford CEO Jim Farley first teased the new truck back in April, noting that it will be built at the company’s upcoming Blue Oval City campus in Tennessee. The truck will be an “all-new” nameplate, not a redesigned F-150 Lightning, and will help bolster Ford as a leader in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326940/ford-mystery-electric-truck-ev-2025

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission has sued app analytics firm Kochava for selling sensitive geolocation data, including details that could unmask people seeking or performing abortions. The lawsuit claims Kochava failed to add basic privacy protections to its location data, much of which is collected from phones without the owners’ knowledge. “Kochava’s data can reveal people’s visits to reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic violence shelters, and addiction recovery facilities,” the FTC said in a press release. “By selling data tracking people, Kochava is enabling others to identify individuals and exposing them to threats of stigma, stalking, discrimination, job loss, and even physical violence.” The agency... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326960/ftc-kochava-lawsuit-abortion-location-tracking-data-broker

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the former Twitter security chief whose explosive disclosures alleged serious security flaws and misleading practices within the company, has received a subpoena to appear for a deposition in the ongoing lawsuit between Twitter and Elon Musk. The request puts Twitter’s whistleblower at the center of Musk’s ongoing legal fight with Twitter, which he agreed to purchase in April. Musk has sought to void the deal, citing many of the same issues detailed in Zatko’s disclosures. Zatko is scheduled to be deposed in connection with the subpoena on September 9th. any documents related to illegal activity Musk’s legal team took action shortly after Zatko’s claims became public, telling reporters they were in the process of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23327036/elon-musk-zatko-mudge-subpoena-twitter-trial-documents-bots

Snapchat’s dual camera feature layouts | Image: Snapchat Snapchat is adding a new feature to its main camera, allowing users to capture photo and video using the front- and back-facing cameras on their phones at the same time. The dual camera feature was initially announced back in April as part of Snapchat’s to-be-released director mode, which will give users access to a wider range of creative tools. The dual camera feature is coming directly to Snapchat just as BeReal — the nostalgia-tinged photo sharing app using both cameras — is breaking into the mainstream . Part of BeReal’s appeal is in the relatively minimal set of features and the mundanity of what users see when they open the app. It only supports images, there’s just one layout for pictures, and it doesn’t include any editing... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326795/snapchat-dual-camera-mode-bereal

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales AMD is expected to launch four CPUs in its Ryzen 7000 series (the “X” line) this evening, and a few hours ahead of the announcement, the pricing has already leaked. According to Wccftech ’s sources , the prices of the upcoming desktop chips will be as follows: Ryzen 9 7950X - $799 US Ryzen 9 7900X - $549 US Ryzen 7 7700X - $449 US Ryzen 5 7600X - $299 US These prices, as Wccftech correctly notes, remain unchanged from the prices of the Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 lineup , which also ranged from $299 to $799 at release. The 7000 series is the direct successor to the 5000 desktop series — the 6000 series (currently trickling out in certain laptop models ) skipped the desktop chips. Much of what we know about these upcoming Ryzen 7000 CPUs comes... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326836/amd-ryzen-7000-series-desktop-cpus-pricing-leak

Image: T-Mobile T-Mobile led the way in bundling mobile and entertainment services together, but now competitors like Verizon are doing the same to incentivize their subscribers to stick around. With that in mind, T-Mobile is trying to sweeten the pot a bit more with the addition of free Apple TV Plus. The new perk will be available starting August 31st for customers on the company’s Magenta Max plan. Thankfully for T-Mobile customers, gaining Apple’s service doesn’t mean giving up Netflix. The carrier will continue to offer its long-running “Netflix on us” deal, which similarly provides free streaming access for as long as you’re a T-Mobile customer. Just keep in mind that the Netflix perk is limited to the basic, standard definition tier for most... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326888/tmobile-free-apple-tv-plus-magenta-max-announced

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Waymo’s fully driverless vehicles are picking up passengers in downtown Phoenix, five months after the Alphabet-owned company expanded its service area to include denser, more complex areas of the city. Waymo has been testing its vehicles in several suburban towns outside of Phoenix since early 2017, including Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, and Gilbert. It also operates a commercial ride-hailing service called Waymo One using a mix of vehicles with and without safety drivers . The company expanded its service area to include downtown Phoenix earlier this year . Last year, the company launched its Trusted Tester program, which is basically a rebranding of the early rider program it ran in suburban Phoenix. Customers interested in using Waymo’s... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23323593/waymo-driverless-vehicles-passengers-downtown-phoenix

You can now buy bananas without ever leaving WhatsApp. | Image: WhatsApp WhatsApp users in India can now do their grocery shopping without ever leaving their messaging app. Meta announced a new integration with JioMart today, through which users can text “Hi” to a certain number and be taken to an in-app shopping experience. The shopping experience looks fairly familiar, akin to what Instacart and other delivery services have been designing for years. But here, there’s no other app. And for WhatsApp, that’s a big deal. Meta is convinced that business messaging is a big part of how WhatsApp will make money going forward. (Well, that and ads, but the ads thing is causing WhatsApp some trouble .) “Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326687/whatsapp-jiomart-india-super-app-grocery-shopping

NASA delayed the launch of its colossal next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, as an engine bleed issue forced the agency to scrub its plans. SLS is a key component of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the Moon by 2025. The massive rocket will carry the Orion crew capsule, which aims to carry its first astronauts in 2024. NASA determined it could not successfully launch The SLS was set to take off at approximately 8:33 AM ET, but was scrubbed after NASA determined it could not successfully launch. The next attempt is scheduled for September 2nd at approximately 12:48 PM ET. If that launch is successful, the mission will last 39 days, with Orion splashing down in the ocean on October 11th. If it... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/29/23326681/nasa-artemis-sls-orion-rocket-moon-first-launch-delay-engine

National Cinema Day has 3,000 participating theaters so far. | Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images Movie tickets across the US will cost just $3 on Saturday, September 3rd in celebration of National Cinema Day ( via Associated Press ). If you’ve never heard of such a holiday before (at least in the US), that’s because it never existed until now , apparently. The $3 ticket price (not including tax) applies across all tickets, formats, and showtimes — and yes, this includes IMAX and 3D movies. So far, a growing list of 3,000 theaters, including popular chains, like Regal , Cinemark , and AMC, have agreed to take part in the new holiday. You might not want to count out your local, independently-run theaters, either. In a list of participating theaters viewed by The Verge , we spotted several smaller locations, like the Starmax Cinemas in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/28/23325916/tickets-movie-theaters-cost-3-dollars-national-cinema-day

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Trademark filings spotted by Bloomberg suggest Apple might incorporate “Reality” in the name and branding of its long-rumored mixed reality headset. Three separate filings show trademarks for “Reality One,” “Reality Pro,” and “Reality Processor,” matching the realityOS name that cropped up in Apple’s code and a trademark application that potentially refers to the headset’s operating system. The applications weren’t filed by Apple itself, but by a company called Immersive Health Solutions, LLC. Companies like Apple often use the names of shell companies when filing for a patent or trademark to help keep their plans private. But, as Bloomberg points out, the Delaware-based Immersive Health Solutions was registered by Corporation Trust Co.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/28/23326041/apple-trademark-filings-reality-branding-virtual-ar-vr-mixed-headset

Photo: Mission Workshop In August 2021, we asked the staff of The Verge to tell us about their go-to laptop bags. Now, a year later, some are still using the same bags — but not all. It’s surprising how attached you can get to a bag — especially the bag that you use to carry your laptop, your sweater, your lunch, your notebook, your exercise shoes, your kids’ diapers, or any of the other stuff you need. Whether you’re heading to the office, visiting a friend, hanging in a coffee shop, going on a hike, or just sitting outdoors to read or work, having a bag that can accommodate everything on your “gotta have this” list can help you avoid a lot of aggravation. So, here’s this year’s staff picks — some old, some new. Most of the staff wrote about their backpacks,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22630435/laptop-bag-messenger-backpack-tote-favorite

Nichelle Nichols died on July 30th, 2022 at age 89. | Photo by Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Ovation The ashes of Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek , will get sent into deep space on a rocket that memorializes her and several other Star Trek veterans ( via Reuters ). Nichols’ son, Kyle Johnson, donated her ashes after she died in July at age 89 . Nichols’ ashes will head to space on a rocket fittingly called the Vulcan Centaur, with the memorial spaceflight company, Celestis, running the “Enterprise Flight” mission . There still isn’t a set date for the send-off, and it will likely depend on the United Launch Alliance’s ongoing development of the Vulcan rocket . During the mission, Nichols will be joined by the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Barrett,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/28/23325680/nichelle-nichols-star-trek-ashes-space-vulcan-centaur-celestis

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge As Google carries out the needlessly complex process of combining both the Meet and Duo apps, now it’s throwing a feature copied from Zoom in the mix. In an update on the Google Workspace blog , the company announced that Google Meet will soon give you the ability to unmute yourself by holding down the spacebar and to mute yourself again by releasing it. If you frequently use Zoom, this feature might sound a lot like its push-to-talk feature — and that’s because it’s essentially the same thing. Zoom has had the feature since at least 2020, and it comes in handy whenever you want to chime in during a meeting but don’t want to stay unmuted for long. Google says it'll start rolling out its own version of the shortcut to all Workspace users... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/28/23325575/google-meet-stealing-zoom-trick-easily-unmute-push-to-talk

Yes, it looks as weird as it sounds, but it works well as a basic smart lock  Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23323597/switchbot-lock-review-smart-door-lock

Image: Marcos Cruz / Netflix Netflix’s Resident Evil series has been canceled a little over a month after its initial debut, according to a report from Deadline . The streamer reportedly decided against renewing the series due to lackluster ratings and viewership. Like the many other Resident Evil adaptations, Netflix’s live-action series attempts to put yet another spin on the video game franchise it’s based on. The show, which was helmed by Supernatural ’s Andrew Dabb, flashes between two different timelines, centering around Umbrella executive Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick) and his two daughters (played by Tamara Smart and Siena Agudong). In our review of the series , my colleague Charles Pulliam-Moore notes that it “keeps things feeling fresh up to a point,” but... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/27/23324830/netflix-resident-evil-canceled-after-season-one

There are a few companies that want to keep you connected when you’re in remote areas. | Image: SpaceX On Thursday, Elon Musk got on stage with T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert to announce that SpaceX is working with the carrier to completely eliminate cellular dead zones . The companies claim that next-generation Starlink satellites, set to launch next year, will be able to communicate directly with phones, letting you text, make calls, and potentially stream video even when there are no cell towers nearby. What’s more, Musk promised all this is possible with phones that people are using today, without consumers having to buy any extra equipment. It’s a bold proclamation from the carrier — Verizon and AT&T don’t offer anything like it. However, SpaceX and T-Mobile aren’t the only companies looking to use satellites to directly communicate with... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/27/23324128/t-mobile-spacex-satellite-to-phone-technology-ast-lynk-industry-r...

Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Google’s trying to make it easier for developers to create Android apps that connect in some way across a range of devices. In a blog post , Google explains that it’s launching a new cross-device software development kit (SDK) that contains the tools developers need to make their apps play nice across Android devices, and, eventually non-Android phones, tablets, TVs, cars, and more. The SDK is supposed to let developers do three key things with their apps: discover nearby devices, establish secure connections between devices, and host an app’s experience across multiple devices. According to Google, its cross-device SDK uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultra-wideband to deliver multi-device connectivity. Image: Google G... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/27/23324635/google-cross-device-android-apps-sdk-windows-ios-phones-tablets

Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge Here’s a cheat sheet for the Artemis I mission Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23321544/nasa-artemis-sls-orion-explained

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A leak of potential branding for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Game Pass family subscription suggests you’ll be able to share a subscription with friends, too. Microsoft started testing its Xbox Game Pass family plan in Ireland and Colombia earlier this month, and now Twitter leaker Aggiornamenti Lumia has spotted “Game Pass Friends & Family” branding. The leak could mean Microsoft isn’t thinking about restricting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to sharing their benefits with just immediate family members. The current preview allows Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to pay €21.99 per month in Ireland (instead of the regular €12.99 per month) for an unnamed test plan that includes sharing subscription benefits with up to four others.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/27/23324623/microsoft-xbox-game-pass-friends-family-subscription-leak

The big changes have come with big problems. | Image: Visible Last week, Verizon’s budget-focused carrier Visible announced some sweeping changes , introducing new plans that utilize an entirely different network infrastructure. The carrier told customers that if they chose to upgrade, they’d get better roaming coverage and latency as well as extra features if they sprung for the $45 a month Visible Plus plan. Reviews among those who have successfully upgraded or signed up seem to be largely positive — most report seeing better speeds and significantly improved latency . (Though there are a few who say they don’t really notice any difference between the legacy plan and the new one.) But for many other customers, the switch has been fraught with service and customer support issues. “Just swapped the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23322458/visible-verizon-new-plans-upgrade-troubles-no-data-support

Three new Lightguide smart LED bulbs from Philips Hue appeared on Amazon.de this week. Signify looks set to release a stunning new line of light bulbs for its Philips Hue brand, as the company continues to innovate its LED-based smart lighting line . The new Lightguide line features oversized dimmable smart bulbs that come in three shapes and are designed for open lighting fixtures. These look like they could add some seriously stylish mood lighting to any setup. The new full-color and white ambiance bulbs appeared on Amazon.de this week — first spotted by Fabian over at HueBlog.com . According to him, the bulbs will start at 75 euros ($75 USD). That’s each. These bulbs are not cheap, even by Hue standards. Philips Hue Lightguide Triangle (top), Ellipse (left), and Globe... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23323232/philips-hue-lightguide-smart-led-bulbs-new-pricing-availability

Image: Sony We’re just a week out from the release of Sony’s The Last of Us remake for PS5, and on Friday, the company detailed the many accessibility options that will be available in the game. For the remake, developer Naughty Dog used the suite of accessibility features included with The Last of Us Part II as a “baseline” and built upon those, according to a blog post from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Gillen McAllister. One useful new option is audio descriptions for cutscenes, which will work with “all our localized languages,” director Matthew Gallant said in the blog. Another option that I’m particularly keen to try is feeling dialogue as haptic feedback in the DualSense controller. “That way a deaf player can feel the way a line is... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23323411/the-last-of-us-part-i-1-ps5-remake-accessibility-options-features

Free games are the perfect pairing for this digital-exclusive console. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge If you were looking for something to occupy your time this weekend, the team at The Verge Deals has got you covered. Right now, you can score a free digital game when you buy an Xbox Series S at Best Buy. Simply add an Xbox Series S to your cart for its regular price of $299.99 , then head to this link to pick one of the available games that you can get for free . Some of the qualifying titles that are part of this deal include Dying Light 2: Stay Human Ultimate Edition (normally $99.99), Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Chaotic Great Edition (normally $89.99), and Forza Horizon 5 Premium Edition (normally $99.99). While the Series S doesn’t have the same power as the Series X, it’s still an excellent digital-exclusive console that’s small enough... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23322207/xbox-series-s-free-game-hp-x360-lenovo-legion-laptop-gaming-dea...

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast , where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Fridays, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories. Today’s show starts with Apple announcing the date for its annual iPhone event, slated for September 7th . Apple is also expected to announce new Apple Watches at the event, so the crew discusses the various rumors of redesigns the next watches may have. Later in the show, the topic shifts to the latest news in streaming: Warner Bros. Discovery’s new streaming service may be called... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23323242/apple-far-out-event-sports-watch-rumors-vergecast-podcast

Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen and Milly Alcock as Rhaenyra Targaryen. | Image: HBO Though House of the Dragon ’s only just premiered, HBO’s already making it quite clear that the Game of Thrones prequel is here to stay, at least for a while. Today, HBO announced that Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon has been renewed for a second season of stories all about Westeros’ infamous family of inbred dragon riders. In a statement about the renewal , HBO executive vice president of programming Francesca Orsi sang House of the Dragon ’s praises and expressed confidence in the ability of the creative team behind the show to tell compelling stories. “Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV,”... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23323281/house-of-the-dragon-season-two-renewal-hbo

The Honor 70. | Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge A little under three months after it was first announced in China , Honor has launched its midrange Honor 70 smartphone in the UK. The phone is set to start at £480 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, rising to £530 for 256GB of storage. Both versions will go on general sale on September 2nd, with preorders opening tomorrow. Stay tuned for our full review next week. Compared to last year’s Honor 50 , the Honor 70’s camera specs are a lot better balanced this time around. (An Honor 60 was announced in China in December but never saw a global release.) Rather than pairing an incredibly high-resolution 108-megapixel camera with three extra sensors totaling just 12-megapixels in resolution between them, the Honor 70 balances a 54-megapixel... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23321302/honor-70-uk-release-date-price-specs-details-cameras-solo-cut-mode

You gotta love the spin. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Peloton’s numbers don’t look great. In its Q4 2022 earnings release this morning, the company reported a $1.2 billion operating loss, a 28 percent revenue drop, a membership decline, and a monthly subscriber churn exceeding 1 percent for the first time in a long while. (Perhaps ever?) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In a nutshell, losses were greater than both Peloton and investors had anticipated. And yet, Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy would have you believe the numbers actually paint a picture of “substantial progress” and the true start of Peloton’s comeback story. “The naysayers will look at our Q4 financial performance and see a melting pot of declining revenue, negative gross margin, and deeper operating losses. They will say... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23321488/peloton-q4-earnings-barry-mccarthy-fitness

Image: Instacart Instacart customers who know they need sustenance but don’t know what to buy will soon be able to browse suggestions from celebrities. Beginning today, the company is rolling out product collections curated by public figures, influencers, and retailers for customers to shop from. The new feature, called Carts, will display lists of grocery items themed around events (“Game Day” or “Self Care Sunday”) or picked by celebrities that customers can add to their own carts. Musician Lizzo is one of the first celebrities to be featured. In the blog announcing the new feature, Instacart says the curated carts will help inspire customer purchases — helpful, perhaps, if you often find yourself browsing aimlessly while ordering... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23320625/instacart-celebrity-influencer-curated-grocery-carts-lizzo

Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge Here’s a cheat sheet for the Artemis I mission Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23321544/nasa-artemis-sls-orion-explained

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Whenever a popular online app announces a change to its fees, or in the services it provides for those fees, you’re going to get a reaction from its subscribers — especially the long-term ones. The latest app to cause this type of dismay is Otter , a recording and transcription service that recently announced downgrades of the services it provides on two of its plans and raised the price on a monthly plan. For free users, it means that they will no longer have access to all their past transcriptions — only the last 25. For paying customers who are on Otter’s Pro plan, the change will be nearly as (or more) drastic: they will be downgraded from a monthly allowance of 6,000 minutes of transcribed audio to 1,200 minutes and from a maximum of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23316220/transcription-ai-otter-temi-how-to

Samar Haddad / The Verge Sure, Facebook can be a great way to connect and stay in touch with family and friends. Yet, more often than not, it’s a headache that can turn toxic thanks to the News Feed. Whether it’s fake news , envy-inducing vacation photos from a classmate you barely know, or a relative’s upsetting political post, there are just some things better left unseen. True, you could unfollow a page if you want to stop seeing those kinds of posts, but you can’t exactly unfollow your uncle or a close friend without potentially putting those relationships at risk. Thankfully, there’s a way around it. It turns out, you can customize your Facebook feed so you don’t have to see their posts without needing to unfriend anybody. There are a number of ways to do... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23319843/remove-facebook-posts-feed-without-unfriending-how-to

Image: Marvel Studios She-Hulk’s not just talking to her audience for laughs Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23316294/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-smart-hulk-fourth-wall

Image: Starlink SpaceX and T-Mobile will be hosting a joint event on Thursday at 8PM ET where they will be announcing plans to “increase connectivity.” SpaceX “chief engineer” Elon Musk and T-Mobile’s CEO and president Mike Sievert will be presenting at the event, which will happen at SpaceX’s Starbase launch site in South Texas, where a Starship prototype was recently loaded onto the launchpad. The two companies haven’t revealed much more beyond that, though Musk is already teasing that the event will be “something special.” The livestream link is already live . This is something special https://t.co/LSMIRYT8zf — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2022 With how little has been revealed, it’s hard to know what exactly the two companies are planning... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/24/23320133/spacex-starlink-t-mobile-connectivity-5g-satellite-elon-musk

Image: PQube Games / Mojiken Studio Mojiken Studio , an Indonesian indie developer, has accused its UK publishing partner PQube Games of manipulation and exploitation related to the funding and development of its latest game, A Space for the Unbound . In a statement on Twitter , Mojiken said that PQube Games — publishers of well-known indie hits like Guilty Gear , BlazBlue , and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero — leveraged Mojiken’s status as a developer in Indonesia to secure grant money from a “major console platform” reserved for helping underrepresented developers get through the financially ruinous times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mojiken then said that PQube did not disperse the funds to Mojiken and withheld information about the provenance and purpose of the money in order to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/24/23319884/pqube-games-a-space-for-the-unbound-mojiken-studio

The Armada 25 (left) and the slightly bigger, higher-res Armada 27 (right). | Image: HyperX HyperX is expanding into monitors with the announcement of two models designed for gamers who want a minimalist desk setup. The most unique thing about these monitors is that they each include a desk mount and versatile monitor arm, which let you customize exactly how you want to arrange the display on your desk. (Not to mention, the lack of a traditional stand means you won’t lose much desk space.) You can orient the monitor horizontally or twist it 90 degrees for a taller view. The 25-inch 1080p Armada 25 and the 27-inch QHD Armada 27 coming in September aren’t far apart in price, costing $449 and $499, respectively. Both seem like a great deal considering they include monitor arms, which typically sell for around $100 or more. Apart... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/24/23319690/hyperx-armada-25-27-gaming-monitor-arm-desk-mount-specs-gsync-features

Wonder what clues might be in the image? | Image: Apple Apple’s next product launch event will take place on September 7th, the company announced in an invitation sent out to journalists today. At the show, Apple is expected to share details on upcoming iPhones and Apple Watches . The invite, which has the tagline “Far out,” is for an in-person event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple’s Cupertino campus, which would be the company’s first big product launch event to take place in the theater since the start of the pandemic. (Apple hosted an in-person event for this year’s WWDC keynote, but it took place outdoors.) The company will also be streaming the September 7th event online. Image: Jay Peters / The Verge Here’s the invite sent to journalists. The iPhone 14... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/24/23310522/apple-iphone-14-event-announcement-date-time-september-2022