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Showing posts from February, 2021

Lime says it will spend $50 million on a huge e-bike expansion

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Lime is getting back to its roots. The scooter company formerly known as LimeBike says it will invest $50 million to grow its shared electric bicycle network, including adding a new model of bike and doubling the number of cities in which it operates. Lime got its start with shared bikes, only to quickly pivot after Bird first introduced the concept of dockless electric scooters in 2017. The company dropped the “bike” from its name and started phasing out its bikes in 2019. But the following year, Lime acquired bike-share company Jump from Uber, and suddenly, bikes were back on the menu. 50 new cities by the start of 2022 Now, the company is doubling down on shared electric bikes, with plans to launch in “a dozen” new cities in North... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/1/22303364/lime-ebike-expansion-new-cities-50-million-investment

2021 Golden Globes: Netflix dominates the night, Nomadland takes top honor

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Hollywood Foreign Press Association In a year of ongoing movie delays and stalled television productions, it’s no surprise that this year’s Golden Globes winners were dominated by streaming services — in particular, Netflix. However, before getting into the winners of the evening, it’s impossible to ignore that this year’s Golden Globes were surrounded by a number of important controversies. Last week the Los Angeles Times published an in-depth feature investigation into the questionable ethics involving all 87 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the voting body that selects Golden Globe winners every year. Some members were flown to Paris and put up in expensive hotels on Netflix’s dollar for on-set visits to Emily in Paris , which was nominated for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22306225/golden-globes-2021-winners-list-awards-netflix-streaming

Cybersecurity firm says social media bots hyped GameStop during trading frenzy

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Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge A cybersecurity firm found that bots were promoting GameStop stock on social media before and after the stock’s frenzied rise last month, Reuters reported. Massachusetts-based PiiQ Media says social media bots promoted Dogecoin, GameStop, and other “meme” stocks in posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. The firm estimated that tens of thousands of bots participated, but it’s still unclear how much influence they had or didn’t have on the rise and fall of GME and other stocks. Shares in GME skyrocketed in January as Reddit users on r/wallstreetbets rallied around the stock in an attempt to squeeze hedge funds that had bet against the video game company. PiiQ told Reuters it detected “patterns of artificial behavior” in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22306295/analyst-bots-hyped-gamestop-trading-reddit

Minneapolis hiring social media influencers for former police officers’ trials

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George Floyd died in police custody in May 2020 | Getty Minneapolis is hiring social media influencers to share “city-generated and approved messages” during the trials of four former city police officers charged in the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, according to the Minnesota Reformer . The Minneapolis city council approved the plan on Friday, which calls for six influencers to be paid about $2,000 each to spread the city’s messages with Black, Native American, Hmong, and Latino communities. The goal is to “address/dispel incorrect information” by using “trusted messengers,” part of a program the city refers to as its Joint Information System to share “timely and relevant information” with the public during the trials. “Through the Communications and Neighborhood and Community Relations... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22306203/minneapolis-social-media-influencers-george-floyd-derek-chauvin-police

New AI ‘Deep Nostalgia’ brings old photos, including very old ones, to life

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MyHeritage An AI-powered service called Deep Nostalgia that animates still photos has become the main character on Twitter this fine Sunday, as people try to create the creepiest fake “video” possible, apparently. The Deep Nostalgia service, offered by online genealogy company MyHeritage , uses AI licensed from D-ID to create the effect that a still photo is moving. It’s kinda like the iOS Live Photos feature , which adds a few seconds of video to help smartphone photographers find the best shot. But Deep Nostalgia can take photos from any camera and bring them to “life.” The program uses pre-recorded driver videos of facial movements and applies the one that works best for the still photo in question. Its intended purpose is to allow you to upload... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22306097/ai-brings-still-photos-life-meme-twitter-geneaology-myheritage

How to watch the 2021 Golden Globes online

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Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images Awards season in Hollywood begins Sunday, February 28th, with the 78th Golden Globe Awards, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The Golden Globes, usually considered a harbinger of who may take home awards at other shows like the Oscars, will look a bit different this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. The hosts and presenters will be in different locations in the US and around the world. Streaming services have finally come into their own at the Globes, with Netflix leading the pack of with 20 total nominations for its television shows; Hulu has six total nominations, Apple TV Plus has two, and Disney Plus has one. In the motion picture categories (the Globes honor films and TV shows), Netflix leads the way with 22... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22305793/golden-globes-2021-live-stream-how-to-watch-start-time

Verizon support says you should turn off 5G to save your phone’s battery

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Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Despite its relentless promotion of 5G phones and the fact that it spent more than $45 billion bidding on a new faster spectrum, Verizon support now is advising people on Twitter to turn off their phones’ 5G access to preserve battery life. In a Sunday morning tweet , Verizon support helpfully suggested that “one way to help conserve battery life is to turn on LTE” if users found their batteries were “draining faster than normal.” That step would, of course, turn off 5G in a phone that has it available. It’s also worth pointing out that you don’t actually “turn on LTE” when doing this step — LTE is always enabled as a fallback for the 5G network. But Verizon is obviously being cautious so as not to actually tell its customers to “turn... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22305899/verizon-support-turn-off-5g-save-phone-battery

Samsung’s shiny red Galaxy Chromebook 2 is now available at Best Buy

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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Samsung’s latest Chrome OS laptop, the Galaxy Chromebook 2, is now available for purchase at Best Buy . The Chromebook 2 was first announced at CES in January and features a new QLED display, 360-degree hinge, and a striking red paint job. It starts at $549.99 for a Celeron model and goes up to $699.99 for a Core i3 version, putting it at the higher end of Chromebooks. That price is the most significant thing about the Chromebook 2 because it’s considerably less than the Galaxy Chromebook that debuted a year ago. The older Chromebook had an 4K OLED screen and came with a stylus — neither of which you’ll fine with the new model — but it also cost just under $1,000 when it came out. In our review, we found despite the gorgeous screen and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22305763/samsung-galaxy-chromebook-2-now-available-best-buy-price-specs-features

Disinformation experts aren’t happy about the trailer for HBO’s QAnon series

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Supporters of former President Donald Trump flew a US flag with a QAnon symbol outside the Capitol on January 6th. | Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images The teaser video for Q: Into the Storm , an upcoming documentary series from HBO about the QAnon conspiracy movement has a lot of deplatforming experts concerned; it looks more like a preview for a spy thriller than a careful examination of the umbrella group of conspiracy theories. The breathless tone might be effective at building hype, but it has many disinformation experts concerned. Ben Collins, one of the leading journalists covering online radicalization, tweeted that the trailer was “being marketed in a way that could recruit more people.” Promoted by HBO as a series that “charts a labyrinthine journey to unmask the mastermind behind QAnon,” critics pointed out that the trailer felt a lot like “ a recruitment video for Q.” d... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/28/22304518/hbo-trailer-upcomi

FDA authorizes one-dose COVID-19 vaccine

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Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which only needs one dose and can be stored in regular refrigerators. It’s the third COVID-19 vaccine to get sign-off from the agency. The vaccine can be administered to people 18 years and older. It protects against serious disease , and clinical trials did not flag any dangerous safety problems. In the United States, it was 72 percent effective against severe and milder COVID-19. It was slightly less effective in South Africa, where a variant form of the coronavirus is widespread. Early data also suggested that the shot might prevent asymptomatic infections, but researchers need more data before they can say that for sure. The Johnson & Johnson... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/27/22301558/covid-vaccine-one-dose-johnson-fda-approval

Microsoft’s unreleased Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows includes touch controls, gyro, and more

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is finalizing its Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows PCs, which includes access to streaming games from the company’s xCloud service. We’ve managed to get access to the latest version of the Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows, an unannounced and unreleased app. Once released, the app will let Windows users stream games from their Xbox Series S / X consoles, and from xCloud. Currently, you can’t stream games from the new Xbox consoles to Windows PCs, as this is unsupported in the existing Xbox Console Companion app. This new app will solve that, and also bring xCloud streaming to Windows PCs for the first time. We first got a look at this xCloud app for Windows last year , and it has improved a lot since then. scoop: here's... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/27/22304762/microsoft-xcloud-app-windows-xbox-touch-controls-gyro-support

Judge approves $650 million Facebook privacy settlement over facial recognition feature

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge A federal judge on Friday gave final approval to a $650 million Facebook class action privacy settlement and ordered the 1.6 million members of the class in Illinois who submitted claims to be paid “as expeditiously as possible.” Chicago attorney Jay Edelson sued Facebook in Cook County Circuit Court back in 2015, alleging that the platform’s use of facial recognition tagging was not allowed under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. The lawsuit claimed that Facebook’s Tag Suggestions tool, which scanned faces in users’ photos and offered suggestions about who the person might be, stored biometric data without users’ consent in violation of the Illinois law. The case became a class action lawsuit in 2018 . In 2019, Facebook m... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/27/22304618/judge-approves-facebook-privacy-settlement-illinois-facial-recognition

So you want to start reading comics?

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WandaVision ’s first season is just about to end, but Falcon and the Winter Soldier , Black Widow , Loki , Justice League , Suicide Squad , The Batman , GCPD, and Peacemaker are just around the corner — and that doesn’t account for other series outside of the main Marvel and DC Universes like MODOK , Titans, or Harley Quinn . There are more superhero TV series and films debuting in 2021 than seemingly ever before, and it might have some people wanting to dive into comics. WandaVision has led a few people on staff to dig into past Vision and Wanda Maximoff-centered storylines, for example. I’ve started reading Kieron Gillen’s Eternals run leading up to Marvel Studios’ film. Whatever reason people may have for wanting to begin reading comics,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22303444/comics-buying-guide-subscription-comixology-marvel-unlimited-dc-universe-infinite

Vaccine centers embrace stickers and selfie stations 

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Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images The best picture I’ve seen this week was a selfie from my father-in-law who just got his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Along with the shot, they gave him a sticker that says “I got vaccinated!” As the vaccine rollout continues, clinics and distribution centers across the country are embracing things like stickers and even selfie stations decked out with colorful backgrounds to help people celebrate getting the shot. The selfie stations are set up as colorful backgrounds, often with pro-vaccine messaging tiled with the name of the healthcare provider . It’s good branding. And hey, if social media-friendly backgrounds helped make some trendy restaurants popular, there’s no reason they couldn’t work for vaccine sites too. This is a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/27/22304009/vaccine-selfies-stickers-photo-antivirus-covid-coronavirus

Sony’s PlayStation Network experiencing outage Saturday

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge An outage of Sony’s PlayStation Network that began Friday afternoon appeared to be persisting on Saturday morning. According to an update on the status page timestamped 6:33PM (not clear what time zone that is) on February 26th, the affected platforms are PS Vita, PS3, PS4, and PS5. “You might have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience,” the update reads. Engadget reported that the outage may be affecting some games but not others; Fortnite appeared to be accessible but Minecraft and Call of Duty: Warzone were not. The PlayStation Network outage began a day after Microsoft’s Xbox Live service suffered a global outage for five hours. On... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/27/22304492/sony-playstation-network-outage-saturday

Here are this week’s best gadget deals all in one place

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Image: Square Enix This week’s batch of deals runs the gamut of gadgets and games. Whether you’re a music fan who’s looking to outfit their tech repertoire with new headphones or a big, powerful Bluetooth speaker, or a gamer, this roundup is for you. There still aren’t any deals on hard-to-find graphics cards, but the good news is at least AMD’s powerful Zen 3 processors are in stock right now (but perhaps not for long). If you aren’t finding what you’re looking for in today’s roundup, keep a lock on our Verge Deals coverage throughout the week and follow us on Twitter for the moment-to-moment deal alerts. Get the best-ever price on Beats Solo Pro on-ear headphones Beats Solo Pro noise-canceling headphones are still available for $150 through Woot. You... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2021/2/27/22303086/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps4-ps5-deal-beats-solo-pro-noise-canceling-headphones-sale

Go read this report about how selling safe masks online is surprisingly hard

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Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images A new report from The New York Times’ Andrew Jacobs digs into how mask policies on tech platforms that have allowed novelty masks like scrunchie masks to flourish while some mask-makers making high-filtration masks have had trouble selling their wares. Even if you’re vaccinated, wearing a mask is still recommended . It seems like a problem, then, that many masks widely advertised on Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon are novelty varieties that might be less safe than medical-grade N95s. Facebook and Amazon say they are following guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Facebook prevented mask sellers from advertising and selling masks to the masses early in the pandemic, when they were in short supply. The idea was to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22303935/mask-selling-facebook-amazon-instagram-kn95-n95

Vergecast: 2021 plans for Spotify, Paramount Plus, and 5G

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast The Vergecast , our chat show to discuss this week in tech news featuring our reporters and editors. This week, co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn start off the show with Verge reporter Allison Johnson to discuss the state of 5G in America: T-Mobile bringing back their unlimited 5G plan with no throttling, the results of the C-band spectrum auction, and whether Dish is serious about building a 5G network. What is 5G, and why is it kind of bad right now? Dish is confident in its plan to offer 5G in its first major cities by end of Q3 2021 T-Mobile just brought back a true unlimited data plan with 5G and no throttling T-Mobile has 5G leverage and isn’t afraid to use it Verizon and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302897/vergecast-podcast-442-spotify-paramount-plus-5g-announcements

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an open-world RPG coming to the Switch

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At a special live-streamed event today, The Pokémon Company revealed something fans having been waiting a long time for: an open-world Pokémon adventure. The next major entry in the franchise will be called Pokémon Legends: Arceus , and it looks to be a huge evolution of the long-running RPG formula. The developers describe it as a “pre-make,” which offers “a new challenge and a new frontier for the Pokémon world.” The story takes place in the Sinnoh region, at a period that appears to be long before other Pokémon games, and will include a number of iconic monsters like Piplup, with your choice of starters including Rowlet, Oshawott, and Cyndaquil. It’s expected to launch worldwide on the Switch in early 2022. Here’s the basic premise: As... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302841/pokemon-legends-arceus-open-world-rpg-nintendo-switch

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl are getting remakes for Nintendo Switch

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Pokémon Diamond and Pearl will be remade for Nintendo Switch. The Pokémon Company announced the news today during a special Pokémon Presents broadcast. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will launch in late 2021. Diamond and Pearl launched in 2006 for Nintendo DS. The game introduced the Sinnoh region, home to pokémon such as Bidoof, Luxio, Drifloon, and Arceus. The updated versions have a cute, chibified look, though both are “faithful remakes” of the originals. A trailer released alongside the news today teases familiar locations and faces in the Switch version, as well as some quality of life upgrades. Pokémon Home developer Ilca is working on both games alongside longtime Game Freak director Junichi Masuda . There’ve... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302858/pokemon-diamond-pearl-remake-nintendo-switch

Martech survey, Australia passes media code: Friday’s daily brief

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Plus, Virginia’s consumer privacy law and what it means to marketers Please visit Marketing Land for the full article. Via Marketing Land - Internet Marketing News, Strategies & Tips https://ift.tt/2uxGgu1

The Final Fantasy VII Remake with a free PS5 upgrade is $30

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Image: Square Enix Yesterday, Square Enix announced that it plans to release an enhanced version of Final Fantasy VII Remake for PS5 , and there is a free next-gen upgrade available if you own the game digitally or physically. You can purchase a physical copy of the game right now for $30 at Amazon . Note that if you plan to take advantage of this deal, you will need to own a PS5 with a disc drive to claim your free PS5 copy. Although the game will be free on PlayStation Plus beginning March 2nd , Sony confirmed that the PS Plus version will not be eligible to receive a free upgrade. So, you’ll either need to buy the next-gen version, which starts at $70 , or buy the PS4 version, the latter of which I think is the better deal. While on the topic of next-gen,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2021/2/26/22302827/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps5-upgrade-lg-cx-4k-tv-deal-sale

FCC authorizes $50 discounts for low-income households’ internet bills

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt a program that provides emergency discounts of up to $50 per month toward broadband internet service for low-income households. The Emergency Broadband Benefit Program also provides up to $75 per month for households on Native American land and a one-time discount of up to $100 on a tablet or computer for those who qualify. The $3.2 billion for the program was approved by Congress in December as part of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package. The subsidies are available to households that already participate in an internet provider’s low-income or pandemic relief program, subscribers to its Lifeline program, households with children receiving free or... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302807/fcc-internet-subsidies-authorized-low-income-broadband

Citizen will now tell you why helicopters are flying overhead

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Citizen Citizen, the app that turns everyone into a crime reporter, now wants to track helicopters. The company announced today that it’s introducing helicopter tracking to the app, which will explain to users why there are flying vehicles overhead. The team tells The Verge it employs a 24/7 group to review 911 communications, and now they’ll review data about police helicopters, too. Like any other info on Citizen, users can add their own videos and comments about the incident while Citizen verifies it on its end. When possible, the team will include a “related incident” for a helicopter spotting that’ll better explain the situation. That way, if the helicopter pertains to a missing person report, for example, that report will be linked. The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22295548/citizen-helicopters-app-update

The best noise-canceling headphones to buy right now

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Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Get some peace and quiet with the best noise-canceling headphones for a variety of uses Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/21345733/best-noise-canceling-headphones

Monster Hunter Rise was made for the Switch, and it’s coming to PC, too

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Capcom finds itself in an interesting position with Monster Hunter Rise , its new title for the Nintendo Switch. 2018’s Monster Hunter World was a huge triumph, bringing the series to a Western audience accustomed to home consoles and PCs and becoming one of the company’s bestselling games ever. But in doing so, it had to abandon some of the biggest factors behind Monster Hunter ’s Japanese success: portability and local multiplayer. Since Capcom started work on Monster Hunter World , though, the Switch has become a global hit, and on paper it sounds like it should be a perfect system for the series. It’s much more capable than the PSP and 3DS hardware that made Monster Hunter a social phenomenon in Japan, while offering the flexibility to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22302670/monster-hunter-rise-interview-switch-pc-version-capcom

PS4 and PS5 owners can get Final Fantasy VII Remake for free with PlayStation Plus in March

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Final Fantasy VII Remake , the modern retelling of the 1997 PlayStation classic, will be free for PlayStation Plus subscribers beginning March 2nd . It is important to note the PS4 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake available for users with an active PS Plus subscription will not be able to receive a PS5 digital version of the game, which was announced yesterday at Sony’s State of Play event. Final Fantasy VII Remake launched last April exclusively on PlayStation 4 and serves as the first of an unknown number of entries in an episodic retelling of the original game. The game is also backward compatible on PlayStation 5, but yesterday's State of Play confirmed that a next-gen version of the game will release on June 10th and will take... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302776/finalfantasy-7-remake-free-playstation-plus-march-2021

LG Stylo 6 review: great stylus features, sketchy performance

Its built-in stylus is useful and enjoyable, but the Stylo 6 is too slow to recommend Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22301223/lg-stylo-6-review

Security researcher recommends against LastPass after detailing 7 trackers

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Image: LastPass A security researcher is recommending against LastPass password manager after detailing seven trackers found in the Android app, The Register reports . Although there is no suggestion that the trackers, which were analyzed by researcher Mike Kuketz , are transferring a user’s actual passwords or usernames, Kuketz says their presence is bad practice for a security-critical app handling such sensitive information. Responding to the report, a spokesperson from LastPass says the company gathers limited data “about how LastPass is used” to help it “improve and optimize the product.” Importantly, LastPass tells The Register that “no sensitive personally identifiable user data or vault activity could be passed through these trackers,” and users... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302709/lastpass-android-app-trackers-security-research-privacy

Nvidia starts boosting frame rates by up to 10 percent on 30-series GPUs

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Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Nvidia has started to roll out support for Resizable BAR, a feature of PCI Express that can boost frame rates in certain games by up to 10 percent. The new RTX 3060 graphics card is the first to include Resizable BAR, which allows certain CPUs to access the full graphics frame buffer, instead of being limited to reading just 256MB blocks. Support for other 30-series GPUs will be available in late March. You’ll need the right CPU, motherboard, and graphics card to utilize this new feature, and Nvidia is working with both AMD and Intel to provide chipset support. AMD’s Zen 3 CPUs are supported, alongside Intel’s 10th Gen processors and the company’s upcoming 11th Gen S chips. Image: Nvidia Nvidia’s Resizable BAR... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302679/nvidia-rtx-3060-resizable-bar-support-30-series-gpus

Apple forced to add iPhone and MacBook repairability scores to comply with French law

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The repairability score can be seen on the lower right of the product page. | Screenshot: Apple.com Apple has added iPhone and MacBook repairability scores to its online store in France to comply with a new French law that came into effect this year. MacGeneration reports that the rating takes into account features like how easily a device can be disassembled and the availability of repair manuals and spare parts. Links to each product’s final score, with details for how they were calculated, are available on this support page . The ratings for Apple’s products vary between products and generations. Its iPhone 12 lineup all have scores of six out of 10 for example, while the previous year’s iPhone 11s are rated lower at between 4.5 and 4.6. The improvement, according to the detailed scoring assessment, is due to the newer iPhones being... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302664/apple-france-repairability-scores-index-law-right-to-repair

Sony will reportedly enable PS5 SSD expansion this summer

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony will allow the PlayStation 5 to make use of expanded SSD storage from this summer, according to a report in Bloomberg . The functionality is said to be coming in a firmware update that will activate the PS5’s M.2 expansion slot, which is currently disabled. Sony told The Verge ahead of the PS5 launch that the feature was “reserved for a future update.” Bloomberg’s sources say that the firmware update will allow for an increase in the speed of the PS5’s cooling fans. The PS5 has an extremely fast built-in SSD, and any compatible third-party drive will need to be equally fast in order to store and run PS5 games; that’s going to generate some extra heat. The PS5 comes with an 825GB SSD right now, leaving users with only 667GB of usable... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/26/22302646/sony-ps5-ssd-expansion-coming-summer-report

Sony winds down Japan Studio to focus on Astro’s Playroom team

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Sony has confirmed that Japan Studio, its internal video game developer based in Tokyo, will essentially wind down and refocus around a single team. In a statement to IGN , Japan Studio said as of April 1st it would be “re-centered to Team Asobi, the creative team behind Astro’s Playroom , allowing the team to focus on a single vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s Playroom .” In other words, get ready for more Astro games. Astro’s Playroom is a well-received title packaged with every PlayStation 5 console. It’s a 3D platformer designed to show off the advanced haptic feedback of the new DualSense controller. Before that, the same team developed Astro Bot: Rescue Mission , widely considered to be the standout exclusive PlayStation VR... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22302302/sony-playstation-japan-studio-winding-down-team-asobi

Cloud Strife’s muscle mass on PS5: a very important investigation

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Image: Square Enix Square Enix just announced Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade , a PS5-enhanced version of FF7 Remake that includes graphical improvements like “improved textures, lighting, and background environments.” But some users on ResetEra noticed one other potentially huge graphical upgrade: Cloud’s famously skinny arms may have gotten a bit beefier. Did Cloud get more swole for next-gen, like the PS5 itself ? Clearly, this warranted a full investigation. Check out this image, from user Tyaren : Image: ResetEra user Tyaren And this GIF, from user Rickenslacker : GIF: ResetEra user Rickenslacker Convincing, right? These two images make a strong argument. But my Verge colleagues and I weren’t totally sure.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/2/25/22302175/cloud-strife-arms-muscles-ps5-final-fantasy-vii-7-remake-intergrade

Activision admits the complete Call of Duty experience no longer fits on an original PS4

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Image: Activision The latest Call of Duty game collection may now be too big to fit the base 500GB PlayStation 4 hard drive ( via IGN ). According to the official Call of Duty blog , if you want to have the latest Call of Duty: Warzone update and the full Black Ops: Cold War and Modern Warfare package on your PS4, you’ll have to uninstall content you don’t use. The games make that somewhat easy to do by letting you remove certain modes — for example, if you only want to play Warzone , you could uninstall Black Ops ’s single player, Zombie, and arcade modes , but it seems a bit ridiculous that you can’t fit three (or really, two and a half) games on an entire game console . That’s especially true since Activision sort of treats these three games as one thing:... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22302057/call-of-duty-warzone-black-ops-modern-warfare-500gb-size

Telegram update adds auto-delete option to all messages, expiring invites, and more

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Telegram is updating its messaging app with options for auto-deleting messages, expiring invite links, and new unlimited groups, the company shared in a blog post . Much like Signal, Telegram received a burst of new users in the confusion over WhatsApp’s privacy policy and now the company is adopting features that were already part of its competitors’ apps, features which offer more security and privacy. Auto-deleting messages were already possible in Telegram’s encrypted Secret Chats, but this new update for iOS and Android adds the option to make messages disappear in any kind of chat. Auto-delete can be enabled inside of chats, and set to delete either 24 hours or seven days after messages are sent. Auto-delete won’t remove every... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22301393/telegram-auto-delete-messages-widgets-andoird-ios-update

Halo Infinite is looking a lot better in these 4K screenshots

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Full-size image here . | Image: 343 Industries We got our first look at Halo Infinite , the next game in Microsoft’s huge franchise, back in July, and the results were... underwhelming. The graphics and visuals weren’t quite as impressive as you might expect from a next-generation game (the demo was running on a PC “that is representative of the experience that players will have on Xbox Series X”), and one vacant-looking enemy even became the infamous Craig meme . The game was delayed to 2021 a few weeks after the demo aired “to ensure the team has adequate time to deliver a Halo game experience that meets our vision.” On Thursday, though, developer 343 Industries shared new screenshots of Halo Infinite in 4K from an in-development PC version of the game, and the graphics look much... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22302094/halo-infinite-4k-screenshots-pc

Apple releases macOS update to prevent damage from third-party docks and dongles

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple is once again releasing an update to prevent a charging problem from killing MacBooks — this time it’s to fix a problem where 2019 and later MacBook Pros, and 2020 and later MacBook Airs were being damaged when connected to third-party USB-C hubs and docks ( via MacRumors ). It’s unclear how widespread the issues are, but a poll on Reddit had 74 out of 221 respondents report that their M1 Air or Pro had failed after using a hub. As with all polls, it’s best to take the results with a grain of salt, but there’s an indication that some people were experiencing issues. Most of the issues seemed to come from using a third-party dock, and while some of them seem to be from pretty obscure brands, there are a few recognizable ones that are... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22301846/apple-macos-update-prevent-third-party-dongle-dock-damage

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s amazing soundtrack hits Spotify and Apple Music tomorrow

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Image: Square Enix Final Fantasy VII Remake’s soundtrack will be available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and other music subscription services tomorrow, February 26th, Square Enix announced on Thursday . It will have an eye-popping (ear-popping?) 156 tracks, according to a press release . The game’s soundtrack was an excellent reimagining of the original game’s iconic music, and I frequently listen to it via random YouTube videos. The official arrival on streaming services should make listening to it much easier. We know you've been waiting a little while for this... From February 26th, the @FinalFantasy VII Remake Soundtrack will be available on online music subscription services such as Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22301968/final-fantasy-vii-remake-soundtrack-spotify-apple-music-streaming-services

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis compiles the entire FFVII timeline into one mobile game

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Image: Square Enix Square Enix announced two mobile games set in the Final Fantasy VII universe today. One is a battle royale game aiming for a 2021 release , and the other is Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis , a compilation of all the games and stories set in the Final Fantasy VII universe ( Final Fantasy VII , Advent Children , Before Crisis , Crisis Core , and Dirge of Cerberus ). The latter is slated to launch sometime in 2022 on Android and iOS. According to a press release , Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is a chapter-structured single-player experience that covers the entire timeline in one of the most popular installments in Square Enix’s RPG franchise. The compilation will feature all the events from each game, in addition to new story elements focusing on... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22301961/final-fantasy-7-ever-crisis-android-ios-announced

Where to buy Nvidia’s RTX 3060 graphics card

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EVGA’s RTX 3060 graphics card | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Nvidia’s new RTX 3060 will be available to purchase starting on Thursday, February 25th at 9AM PT / 12PM ET. Unlike other GPUs in the RTX 30 series, Nvidia is not making a Founder’s Edition of the RTX 3060, but other manufacturers like EVGA and Gigabyte are making their own iterations of the RTX 3060. The price is said to be $329, but as has been the case for the past year, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find it available for that. Retailers that have posted listings are already marking up 3060 cards to $390 or more, which is much closer in price to the step-up 3060 Ti. The Verge ’s Sean Hollister reviewed EVGA’s iteration of the RTX 3060 and noted in his review that although the GPU’s price makes it more competitive to buy, you’re... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22285433/nvidia-rtx-3060-gpu-graphics-card-where-buy-stores-retailers

Reminders to stay cautious aren’t the biggest reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Esther Cohen is 91, vaccinated against COVID-19, and wants to play mahjong with her friends — who are also vaccinated. She asked Anthony Fauci if they could get back to their games after he spoke at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting this month. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said she should wait a bit longer and urged her to be patient. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was working on guidelines for people who’d been vaccinated because lots of people were asking the same question, he said — why get vaccinated if you can’t get back to normal? Epidemiologists say the 44 million people in the United States with at least one dose of the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22300783/covid-vaccine-guidelines-cdc-safety-normal-life

Bravely Default II is a classic RPG that feels a little too familiar

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When the first Bravely Default launched in 2014 , it represented a return of sorts. Developer Square Enix made its name with classic turn-based roleplaying games like Final Fantasy , but those eventually gave way to bigger, more cinematic experiences. With Bravely Default , Square was going back to its roots. It may have technically been a new franchise, but the game was pure classic Final Fantasy -style adventuring. It even introduced a novel battle system to help it from retreading too much new ground. So where does that leave a sequel? Bravely Default II — technically the third game in the series, following 2016’s Bravely Second: End Layer — does all of the same things that made the original so interesting. But seven years later, it... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22299926/bravely-default-2-review-nintendo-switch

Amazon’s head of Fire TV and Luna cloud gaming has left for Unity

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Image: Amazon Amazon’s head of Fire TV, Kindle, and its new Luna cloud gaming service departed the company this month. Marc Whitten has joined Unity as an executive on the company’s Unity Create business. Unity is a cross-platform game engine that many developers use to get their games running across multiple devices. Whitten’s departure, spotted by Matthew Ball on Twitter , comes less than six months after Amazon launched an early access version of Luna , the company’s new cloud gaming service. It also comes during the same month Google announced it’s shutting down its in-house game development studios for Stadia. That’s left the writing on the wall for Stadia , as it increasingly looks like Google will focus on licensing the underlying tech it has... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22300851/amazon-marc-whitten-fire-tv-luna-cloud-gaming-unity-role

Scientists created this seaweed to save the planet

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A new seaweed-based supplement could reduce a potent greenhouse gas released in burps — sheep burps, that is. Diana Zlotnikov is a farmer in New York with plenty of burping sheep who release methane as a byproduct of their digestion system. Methane is a gas that has 28 times the warming capacity of carbon dioxide. Farming can produce a ton of CO2 and methane gas — two of the largest threats in greenhouse gases. Together they make up nearly 50 percent of all emissions and threaten the climate of our planet. Five years ago, Diana started her farm with regenerative agriculture principles in mind — she implemented practices that would not only reduce the carbon footprint of her livestock but would help negate it. Diana has designed her farm... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22297685/seaweed-methane-greenhouse-gas-climate-change-livestock

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 review: $329 with an asterisk sign

No Founder’s Edition this time, so say hello to EVGA Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22300659/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-review

One of Las Vegas’ biggest hotels will soon have a podcast studio in its lobby

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Wynn Resorts Podcast studios are now a Las Vegas attraction. Wynn Resorts announced today that it’s investing $3.5 million in Blue Wire, a sports podcasting network, in a deal that’ll include the build out of a podcasting studio in the Wynn Las Vegas’ lobby. That studio will host Blue Wire podcast personalities as well as star athlete guests to entice people to visit the hotel, get excited about sports, and hopefully place bets on them. Wynn runs a subsidiary business called WynnBet, which handles sports betting, and the team specifically eyed Blue Wire to promote that brand. Craig Billings, president of Wynn Resorts, says the studio will be “activated” during March Madness and NFL kickoff, for example, to bring energy to the hotel around sports,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22299128/wynn-las-vegas-wynnbets-blue-wire-podcast-studio

How to watch Sony’s State of Play live stream today

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge PlayStation fans, rejoice. Sony is hosting the first State of Play live stream of 2021 today. The 30-minute presentation will feature 10 new games coming to the PS4 and PS5, along with updates on some upcoming third-party and indie games that appeared at Sony's PS5 showcase last June . Sony has not unveiled what games will be announced during today’s event, but the company has a ton of highly anticipated games slated to launch this year and possibly into 2022. These include Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart , which will launch exclusively on the PS5 on June 11th, and Horizon Forbidden West , which is expected to come out sometime this year on the PS4 and PS5. WHEN DOES THE PLAYSTATION STATE OF PLAY EVENT START? The live stream starts today,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22299122/playstation-state-of-play-sony-2021-live-stream-start-time

Pokémon might be famous for its games, but it also has some great gadgets

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Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Pokémon might be renowned for its cooperative gameplay , delightful spinoffs , and making an intimidating genre approachable , but the franchise also has a long history of creative and interesting gadgets. The series is bursting with technology. The original in-game pokédex clearly takes inspiration from early Palm Pilot-like devices, for example. And if you think about them, pokéballs are technological marvels: they somehow transform living creatures into particles that can be transported across the world (and in the TV show, the pokéballs can even shrink). So it’s not all that surprising that there have been many Pokémon -themed toys and hardware. We’ve collected just a few of the many memorable Pokémon gadgets in honor of the series’ 25th... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/25/22298495/pokemon-hardware-gadgets-pikachu-poke-ball-mini-camera-consoles

Here’s where and when you can buy the PS5

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Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Update February 25th, 8:03AM ET: Sony’s PlayStation 5 with the disc drive is currently available for purchase at Target , while supplies last. You can find more information here . Sony’s PlayStation 5 is available now. Due to the pandemic and high demand for the PS5, retailers such as Best Buy and Target will only sell the console online for the foreseeable future. So, if you were planning to camp outside your local Target hoping to buy the console today, there will be no walk-in purchases available this year. But, you can order one online and request an in-store pickup. Until we hear more information from retailers, I strongly advise you to keep a close eye on other popular retailers, including Amazon , Target , GameStop , Newegg , B&H Photo ,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/17/21440300/ps5-playstation-5-preorder-price-release-date-buy