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Nick Barclay / The Verge Twitch will begin testing a way for its users to boost their chat messages on the platform. Called “Elevated Chat,” the “experiment” is meant to let users elevate their chat messages for a specific time using a one-time fee. The fees are presented in five different tiers ranging from 30 seconds to two and a half minutes, with fees ranging from $5 to $100. The feature is currently available for a “limited number of channels” on the platform. The option to elevate chats may appear at either the top of the chat or at the bottom of a video, and a user can purchase an Elevated Chat depending on how long they want to keep their message up. According to Game Developer , multiple people can elevate their chat message at once, but it is on a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/30/23380804/twitch-elevated-chat-feature-paid-creators

Google announced the shutdown of Stadia with little warning. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge News that Google would be closing down Stadia was a big surprise for everyone, including the developers making games for the platform Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/30/23381106/google-stadia-shutdown-shocked-developers-too

Adorable and ethically questionable. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Earlier this year, Bandai America announced that the TinyTan Tamagotchi , a new handheld game featuring the members of BTS, was on its way. The $19.99 gadget is up for preorder now, and it ships on October 3rd. As a fan of all things BTS and K-pop who also happens to review things for a living, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to test it out. The conceit of a Tamagotchi is innocuous enough. It’s a teensy egg-shaped device with a screen in the middle and three buttons across the bottom. Traditionally, that screen is occupied by a virtual pet — you feed this pet, play games with it, and such by pressing various combinations of said buttons. The TinyTan Tamagotchi is like that, except the pet under your care happens to be a member of the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23368585/bts-tamagotchi-handheld-game-hands-on

A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla . | Image: Ubisoft Stadia may be shutting down next year , but if you’ve purchased Ubisoft titles on the cloud gaming platform, you’ll be able to transfer those purchases to PC at some point in the future, Ubisoft confirmed to The Verge . “While Stadia will shut down on January 18th, 2023, we’re happy to share that we’re currently working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect,” Ubisoft senior corporate communications manager Jessica Roache said in a statement. “We’ll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.” This means that players who may have invested in Ubisoft’s games on Stadia will be able to play them again on their PC down the line. That said, some people... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/30/23380703/ubisoft-google-stadia-transfer-purchases-pc-shutdown

Adrien Brody as the playwright Arthur Miller and Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde . | Image: Netflix Director Andrew Dominik’s experimental Marilyn Monroe biopic gets downright weird and borderline offensive in its discussion of abortion Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/30/23374889/blonde-movie-netflix-fetus-scene

Stadia is shutting down in January. Here’s how to get a refund for your games and hardware. | Image: Google Google Stadia is shuffling off this mortal coil on January 18th , but thankfully, Google is offering refunds for anyone that purchased Stadia hardware or games from the Stadia store. Google has made an official statement with details regarding the Stadia platform and when users can expect refunds , but here’s a synopsis of what we know so far. Stadia will remain operational until January 18th, and you’ll continue to have access to your games until then , giving you the opportunity to transfer progress and tie up other loose ends. However, Google has disabled the Stadia storefront, so you won’t have the ability to make any additional purchases. If you purchased any of the following hardware through the Google Store or made any game... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23380370/google-stadia-refund-how-to

A lever counts as a button, right? Roll with me on this one. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge It took me joining a baking club to realize just how good my KitchenAid stand mixer’s controls are. Ever since I got it a few years back, I’ve admired the simplicity of its two-lever system: one that lets you tilt the head up and down and one to control the speed. But now that I’m using it every week, I’ve finally figured out what makes it click so well for me: it’s the fact that the speed lever feels sturdy and rugged while also providing incredibly precise control. The speed control lever’s job is made fairly obvious by its name: it lets you control how fast your mixer is mixin’ and also acts as an off switch at its “0” setting. The lever is a sturdy metal affair, and the version on my mixer is capped off with a piece of black plastic... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/30/23361232/kitchenaid-mixer-lever-rugged-fine-grain-control

Concept art from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | Image: 20th Century Studios The next entry in the Planet of the Apes saga will start filming soon — and it has yet another very long name. Today, 20th Century Studios unveiled the first real details on Kingdom of the Planet of the Ape s, which picks up the story years after 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes for what’s described as “an all-new chapter.” Production on the film is scheduled to start next month, with Wes Ball, best-known for the Maze Runner trilogy, serving as director. We don’t know much else about the movie, and it’s hard to glean a lot from the initial concept art (see above). But the studio did reveal some of the cast, including Owen Teague ( Black Mirror and the newer It films), Freya Allen ( The Witcher ), and Peter Macon ( The Orville ). The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378927/kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-cast-date

Image: Ustwo Games / Netflix The quality of Netflix games has gone from simple, cotton candy-like fluff suitable for short bursts in a waiting room to bespoke, narrative experiences that require hours of strategic thinking. Desta: The Memories Between is the latter. Now I’m going to say some words that make sense independently but seem confusing when smashed together: Desta is a dreaming dodgeball roguelike friendship simulator. I promise you, it works. That’s the thing that enamored me of this game: those disparate words and genres, when put together, frickin’ work on a level that I simply have not seen in a mobile game, let alone one brought exclusively to mobile via Netflix — whose first crop of games included such BAFTA hopefuls like Shooting Hoops and Teeter... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378549/netflix-desta-the-memories-mobile-ustwo-games

Worlds 2021 champions Edward Gaming in Iceland. | Photo by Clive Rose/Riot Games Inc. via Getty Images The weather is cooling down, leaves are starting to change color, and PSLs are everywhere, which can only mean one thing: it’s time for the League of Legends World Championship. The annual esports tournament, better known simply as Worlds, kicks off on September 29th. Following a few years of competitions hampered by COVID-related restrictions, the 2022 edition looks to be more in keeping with the spectacle fans are used to. This year, the event is taking place across several cities in North America, starting off in Mexico City and culminating with the finals in San Francisco, where none other than Lil Nas X will be performing at the opening ceremony . As always, there are plenty of intriguing storylines, but keeping up with everything... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378362/league-of-legends-world-championship-2022-lol-worlds-how-to-watch-sch...

Bowers & Wilkins’ new PX8 headphones in tan | Image: Bowers & Wilkins On paper, there’s little to separate Bowers & Wilkins’ new PX8 headphones from the PX7 S2 model released earlier this year. Battery life is still rated at 30 hours, they still contain six microphones (four for active noise cancellation plus two for calls), and there’s still no dedicated 3.5mm jack. And yet, the new PX8 costs $699, a whole $300 more than their midrange counterpart. What gives? Well, B&W argues that “what gives” is its new flagship headphones’ sound quality, thanks to a pair of new 40mm Carbon Cone drive units. These use a similar design to those found in the company’s 700 Series loudspeakers, which start at over $1,000 per pair. “The result is resolution, detail and timing that surpasses the high bar set by the PX7 S2,”... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378658/bowers-wilkins-px8-wireless-headphones-promise-price-release-date-specs-features

Image: Apple The third season of Mythic Quest , the Apple TV Plus show about a group of dysfunctional video game developers, will premiere on November 11th, Apple announced on Thursday. The company’s tweet didn’t share much about what to expect, but you can get an idea of what’s coming in the new season by watching the teaser trailer released in July. Ian Grimm (played by show co-creator Rob McElhenney) and Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao) appear to have followed through on their plan to leave the show’s fictional game studio, and it seems as if they’ll be dabbling with the metaverse. I’m sure nothing will go wrong with that . That said, the trailer also features a few scenes with them back with the rest of the cast, so maybe they won’t be too far away from... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378627/mythic-quest-third-season-premiere-date

Google is refunding all Stadia purchases — hardware, software, and DLC. Members of the Stadia team will be “carrying this work forward” in other departments at Google. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23378713/google-stadia-shutting-down-game-streaming-january-2023

Waymo says it has created a new benchmark to measure the safety of its autonomous vehicles. | Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Waymo’s latest effort to prove that autonomous vehicles are safer than silly, accident-prone humans involves creating a virtual representation of a hyper-attentive driver and then pitting this fake person against its own AVs in a series of simulated tests to see which is better at crash avoidance. (Not to spoil it or anything, but the Waymo vehicle did better.) Improved safety has been one of the main predictions of the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry. With millions of people dying in auto crashes globally every year, AV operators are increasingly leaning on this safety case to spur regulators to pass legislation allowing more fully autonomous vehicles on the road. But while the argument seems convincing on the surface — AVs don’t get... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/29/23377219/waymo-av-safety-study-response-time-cr...

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images The House is expected to vote on a package of previously uncontroversial bills targeting Big Tech’s market dominance this week, but a sudden flare-up among Republicans is threatening to hold up any movement on the bills. Earlier this week, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) announced that the House planned to vote on three bills that would make it more difficult and expensive for large tech companies, like Apple or Google, to acquire smaller companies by increasing filing fees. In turn, those fees would be used to fund investigations for federal antitrust enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department. “We can’t allow goliath tech firms to crush small businesses and conservatism any longer,” Buck said in a Monday statement.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23377108/republican-infighting-threatens-tech-antitrust-vote

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Since the start of the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration has signed off on 430 COVID-19 tests through its emergency use authorization powers — rules that let the agency push tests and drugs out the door more quickly during an emergency. Now, over two years later, the agency is backing off that system and will treat most COVID-19 tests just like other medical tests. In a statement Tuesday, the FDA said that most new COVID-19 tests will have to go through the normal, non-emergency test review process. “For most new tests, shifting to traditional premarket review would best meet the public health needs at the current stage of the COVID-19 public health emergency,” said Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23376657/fda-covid-test-emergency-authorization-rules

Illustration: The Verge If you open up Google Maps right now, I’m guessing you’ll probably search for where you want to go using a traditional 2D map. But Google has some ideas to help you discover the world around you in a far more immersive way, and it showed off some of what it’s working on at its Search On event on Wednesday. One of those new features is what Google calls Immersive View, which it first demonstrated at this year’s Google I/O . On its face, it’s essentially a 3D aerial view of a certain area or location — think Apple Maps’ Flyover feature — but Immersive View also lets you go a level deeper by checking out weather, traffic, and even drill down to explore individual buildings. During Wednesday’s show, Google Maps VP and GM Chris Phillips gave a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23373968/google-maps-immersive-aerial-view-neighborhood-vibe-live-view-search-on

Buoys equipped with onboard computers could use AI to help save humpback whales in the US from ship collisions. | Photo by Tim Graham / Getty Images AI software monitoring sounds from within bright yellow buoys could reduce whale deaths by identifying whale species and pod locations. Scientists then verify the data and relay that information to any ships passing nearby, helping them to avoid the animals. The Whale Safe project was launched by Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory and partners, with the first Whale Safe systems already deployed in the Santa Barbara Channel near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Each buoy carries an onboard computer that records whale sounds using an underwater microphone. An AI algorithm then detects the clicks and squeals of specific whale species before transmitting the data via satellite every two hours, where a scientist will review the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23376886/ai-scanning-save-endangered-wh...

The Verge Google’s impressive multisearch tool, which lets you search using both an image and some text, will be expanding to more than 70 global languages in the next few months, the company announced at its Search On event on Wednesday. Multisearch uses Google Lens to make it easier to search for things that might be tricky to dig into with just text. Let’s say you see a jacket you like but want to find it in a different color. With multisearch, you can open up Google Lens in Google’s Android or iOS apps, snap a pic of the jacket, type out the color you want to find the jacket in, and search. By making multisearch available in many more languages, a lot more people will be able to use it; the tool initially rolled out in April in a US-only beta ,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23373804/google-multisearch-more-languages-visual-search

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Welcome to the Wednesday edition of Hot Pod. You can blame Rosh Hashanah for my tardiness. We have a lot to get into today, but first, some shameless self-promotion! I made an episode of The Vergecast about how the rise of streaming has changed music creation and what it means to be a star. Making podcasts is fun, who knew? Today, CNN is laying off some of its audio staff, Spotify is trying to stem the flow of white supremacist music, and iHeart is buying illegitimate downloads through mobile games. CNN lays off audio staffers CNN is cutting some of its podcast staff as it refocuses its audio business, according to a laid-off employee. Alexander McCall, who worked as a product manager at CNN Audio, tweeted yesterday that he and other... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23376948/cnn-podcasts-lay-offs-spotify-iheart-adl-netflix

The new Echo Auto is smaller and easier to mount in your car than the original model. It also looks nicer. | Image: Amazon Amazon has announced an update to the Echo Auto that it originally launched back in 2018 . The new Echo Auto is a wholly new design, with a smaller footprint, fabric covering, and easier mounting options. It will sell for $54.99. The idea behind the Echo Auto is to put Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in your car if your vehicle doesn’t have it integrated natively like some modern cars. Effectively a microphone with some smarts, the Echo Auto pairs to your phone over Bluetooth and then can connect to your car’s audio system over Bluetooth or through a 3.5mm audio cable. Power is supplied by your car’s USB port. The new Echo Auto has five microphones, down from the original’s eight. Amazon’s vice president of Alexa devices, Nedim Fresko,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/28/23375538/amazon-echo-auto-update-new-model-event-size-...

Photo Illustration by William Joel / The Verge Buying a new phone can be a chore, but we’ve done the work for you Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22163811/best-phone

It’s a Zenbook, all right. | Image: Asus If you were intrigued by Asus’ Zenbook 17 Fold OLED but put off by the fact that it, well, folded, there is now a more... normie option for you. Asus has announced the Zenbook Pro 17, a ginormous version of its highly regarded, portable Zenbook line (and the first Zenbook with a 17.3-inch screen). The device starts at $999 and will be available from Asus and Amazon . Ship dates are yet to be announced. That pricing puts it below many of the best-known 17-inchers in the consumer space today. The Dell XPS 17 and LG Gram 17 , two of the best-known products in this category, currently start at $1,849 and $1,199 , respectively. Earlier this year, Asus announced an almost-as-large Zenbook Pro 16X OLED , starting at $2,599. The Pro 17, while... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23375331/asus-zenbook-pro-17-laptop-ryzen-6000-nvidia-rtx-3050-pricing-release

You can set up your username right from the games tab in the Android app. | Image: Netflix Netflix is officially introducing gamertag-style handles subscribers can use in its mobile games. The company first began rolling out handles that will be shown in multiplayer games and on online leaderboards in some games last month, but in a blog post published Tuesday , Netflix said that users can now set them up on both iOS and Android devices. The process of actually making your handle differs depending on which operating system you use. On Android, in the games tab in Netflix’s navigation bar, you can tap the banner that says “Create your Netflix game handle” to get started. The iOS version of the Netflix app doesn’t have a dedicated games tab, so you’ll need to download a game like Rival Pirates or Lucky Luna and follow the in-app... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23375319/netflix-games-gamertag-username-handle-ios-android

Currently, the wallet only supports Polygon — no relation to Vox Media’s gaming-focused publication. | Image: Robinhood Robinhood has launched the beta for its “Web3 wallet” for 10,000 iOS users who signed up for the waitlist. The company teased this product earlier this year after making an earlier crypto wallet more broadly available. Unlike its existing cryptocurrency wallet, the Web3 wallet isn’t just for storing cryptocurrencies that can be traded on the financial platform — it can also be used to “seamlessly access the decentralized web,” as Robinhood’s press release puts it. The wallet will also let people trade cryptocurrencies without any fees. The Web3 wallet also differs from the company’s other crypto wallet in that it’s self-custody, meaning you’re responsible for keeping the keys for it secure. In practical terms, that gives you a bit more... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23374990/robinhood-web3-wallet-beta-ios-polygon

Stage Manager is coming to some older iPad Pros. | Photo by Brennan King / The Verge In a major turnaround, Apple is bringing Stage Manager, one of iPadOS’s signature new features, to more iPads. Stage Manager, a new multitasking system, was previously set to be available only on iPads with M1 chips. Now, however, the feature will also be coming to third- and fourth-generation iPad Pros (which have the A12X Bionic and A12Z Bionic chips, respectively), according to a statement shared with Engadget . Unfortunately, Apple is also delaying one aspect of Stage Manager, and it’s one that will remain exclusive to iPads with M1 chips. Support for using Stage Manager with external displays won’t be available until a software update coming later this year. Here’s Apple’s full statement, from Engadget : We introduced Stage Manager... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23375174/apple-ipad-pro-stage-manager-m1-ipados-16-1

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is updating its Play Store to make it easier to discover and download apps across the full range of Android devices — whether that’s Wear OS watches, Android TVs, Android tablets, or vehicles fitted with Android Auto. There are three updates in total: a new device-specific search filter, new sections in the Android app focused on devices that aren’t phones, and new options to remotely install apps from your phone. These updates come as Google is working to improve the Android hardware ecosystem beyond phones — a focus highlighted by the company’s own efforts to release more Android hardware options, including a Google Pixel smartwatch this year and a new Google tablet in 2023. It seems that if Google itself is offering a broader... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23374407/google-play-store-tablet-watch-android-tv-apps-discovery-install

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Meta says it has disrupted a sophisticated Russian influence operation that operated across its own social platforms, Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, and even LiveJournal. In a new report on removing coordinated inauthentic behavior , Meta says that the influence campaign originated in Russia and involved a “sprawling” network of more than 60 fake websites. In a bid for borrowed credibility, some of those sites impersonated mainstream European news outlets like Der Spiegel , The Guardian and Bild . Social media accounts within the network shared spoofed articles from these news outlets, mostly criticizing Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees or arguing against sanctions placed on Russia. Content in the spoofed... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/27/23374819/meta-russian-influence-ukraine-war-campaign-propaganda

Even for the midrange 256GB model, the time to wait after placing a reservation is pretty short. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge I was one of the people who rushed to put down a deposit for Valve’s Steam Deck the first moment that I could. However, I pulled out of the queue after seeing how long others were having to wait near its launch. Now, after seeing time and time again that Valve has increased production of the Deck to shorten wait times, it eventually made me rejoin the queue, if only as an experiment to see how quickly I could get to the front of the line. As it turns out, I only had to wait a month. I placed a deposit for the $529 256GB model on August 25th, and I just received my email confirmation that it was available for purchase. That wasn’t so bad. With a wait this short, there’s no reason to pay higher-than-retail costs for a Deck through sites... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/26/23373266/steam-deck-deposit-reservation-buy-valv...

Image: Substack Substack’s the latest company trying to resurrect Google Reader from the dead — well, in spirit at least. Nearly a decade after Google’s popular RSS feed aggregator shut down , Substack has launched a desktop RSS client alternative: Substack Reader for the web . Now, users can organize all of their Substack subscriptions in one webpage that they can view from their laptop or PC. The app also integrates with third-party RSS feeds so users can check out posts from other publications, too. The new desktop client keeps old Google Reader users in mind with familiar keyboard shortcuts, for example, yet also sports new settings like dark mode. Image: Substack Substack’s new desktop RSS client supports dark mode. S... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/26/23372911/substack-reader-web-desktop-rss-client-google-reader

Image: Netflix Gudetama is easily my favorite Sanrio character, mostly because it’s so relatable: just a little blob of egg who never wants to do anything. Same. In the upcoming Netflix series, dubbed Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure , we get a glimpse at how that might look in the real world. The show sees the egg teaming up with a little chick — who considers them “siblings” — as they leave the fridge into the big wide world. In the show, Gudetama looks much more realistic than its cartoon origins, but the attitude is the same; when it says, “Why bother trying?” I felt a deep connection. The series starts streaming on December 13th, and the new trailer was a part of a series of Japan-centric announcements from its Tudum event, which also included... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23373116/gudetama-netflix-trailer-release-date

An illustration of DART headed towards Dimorphos | NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben When NASA smashes a spacecraft into an asteroid on Monday, people on Earth will get an extremely close look at the action. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) is headed for its final destination, the surface of an asteroid called Dimorphos, which it will crash into at speeds of over 14,000 miles per hour. Researchers are hoping that the collision will change the asteroid’s orbit, speeding it up just a tiny bit. Neither Dimorphos, nor its larger companion, Didymos, pose any danger to Earth, but the experiment is designed to test whether or not a similar impact could make a difference if scientists ever discovered an asteroid that posed an imminent threat to life on Earth. DART will be on its own during its final approach. The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/26/23371372/watch-nasa-dart-collision-asteroid

A new Prime Day is on the Horizon | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The rumors were true: Amazon’s holding a second Prime-exclusive sales event starting on Tuesday, October 11th at 3AM ET / 12AM PT and running through Wednesday, October 12th. We first heard about the possibility of another day of deals back in June, but now Amazon has made it official — the only difference is that it’s calling the event Prime Early Access Sale instead of Prime Day. Besides the name, it doesn’t look like too much is changing between the two events. Just like Amazon Prime Day, the Prime Early Access Sale should still bring some of the best deals of the year out to play, as well as feature sales on Amazon devices in addition to a wealth of other cool tech. So, if you’ve waited this long to buy a new pair of noise-canceling... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/26/23361319/amazon-prime-early-access-sale-deals

That poor Surface tablet. Microsoft Surface tablets have been taking a beating at football events these past two weekends. During the Buffalo Bills game against the Miami Dolphins this afternoon, Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey took his frustration out on his tablet as the Dolphins secured a win during the final moments of the game. Dorsey’s reaction may have been warranted, although he probably could’ve chosen another outlet for his anger (like a stress ball perhaps?). The Bills had a chance to run one more play to win the game, but the team ultimately ran out of time, losing to the Dolphins 19-21. When cameras turned to the booth where he was watching the game, Dorsey ripped off his headset and tossed his hat before he picked up the tablet and started... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/25/23371725/football-nfl-claims-microsoft-surface-tablet-miami-dolphins-buffalo-bills-ken-dorsey

An illustration of the DART spacecraft and the asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos | NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben Dimorphos is a lump of space rock so far away from Earth that we don’t even know what it looks like — and on Monday, we’re going to smash it with a spacecraft. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will be traveling at more than 14,000 miles per hour when it hits the asteroid, in what has to be one of the most metal science experiments of all time. DART is a NASA effort to see if it can change an asteroid’s movement in space. It’s being billed as the world’s first “planetary defense test mission” — a test run to see if we have what it takes to avert a serious asteroid impact on Earth sometime in the future. You know, just in case. To be extremely clear, neither Dimorphos, or its larger companion Didymos, pose any threat to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/25/23367395/nasa-dart-crash-asteroid-dimorphos-didymos

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket hasn’t had a very good start to the football season. For the past two weekends in a row, subscribers have struggled to get their streams to work, and this weekend is no exception. Even before today’s games started, users began complaining about numerous issues, with many saying that they can’t log into their accounts on the Sunday Ticket website or app and others having problems loading the streams. Those who are able to access the stream are reporting quality issues . Somehow Sunday Ticket is acting worse than last week. Truly depressing. @DIRECTV — Alex Reno (@alex_reno) September 25, 2022 DirecTV hasn’t issued any statement about whether it’s working to fix the stream, and the company didn’t immediately... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/25/23371309/directv-nfl-sunday-ticket-issues-again-football

The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple could introduce a new naming scheme when it releases the iPhone 15 next year, replacing the current “Pro Max” branding with “Ultra.” This is according to Apple tracker Mark Gurman , who also expects the iPhone 15 to come with some “bigger changes,” including USB-C. The Pro Max name first appeared with the iPhone 11 in 2019, and adding Ultra branding to the iPhone lineup wouldn’t be all that surprising. Apple already launched the new Watch Ultra with the moniker earlier this month, and added the name to its M1 Ultra processor . Apple also introduced a minor change to its naming scheme with the iPhone 14 , bringing back the seemingly retired “Plus” name to the iPhone 14 Plus. The iPhone 14 isn’t even a month old yet, but other rumors... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/25/23371160/iphone-15-ultra-replace-pro-max-apple-rumors-usb-c

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple Pay Later is facing some “significant” setbacks that could delay its launch until next year, according to a report from Bloomberg ’s Mark Gurman . The feature is Apple’s version of a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, letting you make a payment through Apple Pay and then pay it back in four installments without interest. Apple said its Pay Later feature would arrive with iOS 16 when it first announced the program at WWDC in June. But now that iOS 16 is out, Apple Pay Later hasn’t made an appearance, and the fine print on Apple’s iOS 16 page vaguely says it’s “coming in a future update.” As Gurman points out, Apple Pay Later is the only unreleased iOS 16 feature on the page that doesn’t include a timeframe for when we might expect its... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/25/23371100/apple-pay-later-bnpl-reportedly-facing-technical-engineering-issues-gurman

The Triton 500 SE is an expensive gaming laptop that doesn’t flex its hardware enough Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23318247/acer-predator-triton-500-se-gaming-laptop-test-benchmark-review

Darth Vader in Disney Plus’ Obi Wan. | Image: Lucasfilm James Earl Jones has been the iconic voice of Darth Vader since the beginning of Star Wars , but at 91 years old, it seems he’s ready to have the work done for him. According to a report from Vanity Fair ( via Deadline ), Jones signed over the rights to his archival voice work, allowing the Ukrainian startup Respeecher to leverage AI technology and recreate the sound of his voice in Disney Plus’ Obi-Wan Kenobi . To do this, Respeecher uses sound bites to “clone” an actor’s voice, allowing a studio to record new lines without having the actor present. Matthew Wood, Skywalker Sound’s supervising sound editor, told Vanity Fair that he presented Jones with the option once he “mentioned he was looking into winding down” the role of Darth Vader.... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/24/23370097/darth-vader-james-earl-jones-obi-wan-kenobi-star-wars-ai-disney-lucasfilm

Teyonah Parris as Yo-yo, Jamie Foxx as Slick, and John Boyega as Fontaine. | Netflix In Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi comedy feature The Cloned Tyrone from director Juel Taylor, everybody with even the slightest bit of common sense knows that Black people have plenty of reasons not to trust the government or the police stalking their neighborhoods. Some of those reasons, like police brutality and harassment, are obvious. But the real threat everyone’s facing in They Cloned Tyrone ’s first trailer is a bit more hidden and insidious because it’s the sort of thing few people would be inclined to believe. They Cloned Tyrone tells the story of Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), Slick (Jamie Foxx), and Fontaine (John Boyega), three unlikely friends who are brought together by their shared discovery of a massive, secret governmental... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/24/23368789/netflix-they-cloned-tyrone-trailer

Guillermo del Toro taking a peek at a miniature set featuring Pinocchio sleeping or not yet alive in Geppetto’s workshop. | Netflix Once upon a time, it seemed as if Netflix’s upcoming stop-motion Pinocchio from co-directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s might in a bit of competition with Disney’s “live-action” spin on the classic story from Robert Zeemckis. But that all changed when del Toro stopped by Netflix’s annual Tudum event to give everyone a closer look into the labor-intensive, mesmerizing, and magical process that brought his Pinocchio to life. In the new video, which features a number of different Pinocchio scenes in the midst of production, del Toro opens up a bit about what all he wanted to bring to his take on the fairytale, and why he insisted that the bulk of its animation was done by hand. While there’s also quite a bit of digital... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/24/23367640/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-animation-proce...

Image: Netflix Netflix has a fairly full lineup of movies this holiday season , and leading the way is the sequel to Enola Holmes . At the streamer’s big Tudum event today, it revealed a new trailer for the film, which shows the budding detective starting to lay down a foundation for her crime-solving career — though naturally things don’t seem to be going so well. The sequel was first announced last year , and it sees much of the cast returning; Millie Bobby Brown plays Enola, Henry Cavill is her older brother Sherlock, and Helena Bonham Carter is their mother. Harry Bradbeer is also back to direct. According to Netflix, Enola Holmes 2 will feature “a mystery of historic proportions,” and the new trailer shows how the case will see Enola and Sherlock... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/24/23368397/enola-holmes-2-trailer-netflix-tudum

NASA’s SLS on the pad on September 3rd, 2022 | Photo by Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images I’ve got good news and bad news for fans of big NASA space launches. The good news is that after repeated delays and a nail-biting test of a leaky fuel system, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) could make its big debut as soon as Tuesday. The bad news is currently named Tropical Depression Nine. It’s a developing storm in the Caribbean with the potential to become a major hurricane and a trajectory that is currently headed toward Florida. There is just a 20 percent chance that the weather on September 27th will cooperate, according to a Friday forecast from the Space Force’s 45th weather squadron, which is in charge of determining whether or not the weather is good enough to launch. This particular launch will be the start of Artemis I,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/23/23368924/nasa-artemis-tropical-depression-storm-la...

The “NASTY!” message when you flub a note is inspired. | Image: Holy Wow Studios Trombone Champ has been the star of my timeline this week; I’m constantly running into absurd renditions of songs like “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” But in a conversation with Dan Vecchitto, the founder of Trombone Champ developer Holy Wow Studios, he brought up something I think is a major factor in the game’s success: we just don’t see a lot of comedy in gaming right now. Games have been pushing the boundaries of capital-S Serious Storytelling for some time with series like The Last of Us . Others remain popular because of their high-skill and high-stress competitive multiplayer. But we just don’t see many games that embrace their own comedy in the way that Trombone Champ does. While there are a growing number of games that are... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/23/23369097/trombone-champ-comedy-games-interview-dan-vecchitto-interview-holy-wow-studios

Logitech’s budget-friendly G435 boasts color and comfort, as well as a host of solid features. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge A good gaming headset is practically a necessity these days. Clean and precise audio is essential for competitive gaming, allowing you to pinpoint your enemies and communicate effectively with your teammates. Moreover, recent developments in spatial audio and virtual surround sound have allowed headsets to meet — and occasionally surpass — more expensive audio setups, allowing even the most budget-conscious gamer to obtain a competitive edge at a fraction of the price. While you could always invest in a massive pair of speakers, they’re likely to earn you the dubious distinction of the worst roommate of the decade. Thankfully, the right headset will allow you to keep the running and gunning to yourself, which is why we’ve rounded up a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/22876408/best-gaming-headset-deals-sales ...

Photo by Scott Olson / Getty Images Harm reduction programs will soon be able to more easily bulk buy medication that can treat opioid overdoses, thanks to new guidance from the Food and Drug Administration . The guidance centers around naloxone, which reverses overdoses. Advocacy groups have been pushing for this change , which will make it much easier for them to distribute the lifesaving drug. Naloxone is currently a prescription drug at the federal level, even though state-level laws make it so people don’t need a prescription to obtain it. But because of the federal rules, manufacturers normally have to follow specific requirements around how they can distribute the drug. Those guidelines made it hard for harm reduction groups, which work to prevent overdoses, to get... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/23/23368354/fda-naloxone-guidelines-harm-reduction-opioid-overdose

Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Police in San Francisco got a boost to their surveillance powers this week after the city’s board of supervisors voted on Tuesday to grant the police department access to private surveillance cameras in real time. The vote, which passed 7–4, approved a one-year pilot program that will allow police to monitor footage from private cameras across the city with the camera owners’ consent. The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) will not have continuous access to the cameras but will be able to tap into the network under certain conditions, such as during the investigation of crimes including misdemeanors and property crimes. The SFPD will also be able to access private camera footage during large-scale public events such as protests, even... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/23/23368603/san-francisco-police-private-surveillance-cameras-vote

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you’re lucky enough to be unboxing a new Apple Watch this week , you might be wondering how to disconnect your old one from your iPhone. Unless you plan on using two watches — it’s a thing — you’ll want to unpair it so you can hand it down to a friend or family member or sell it. It’s important to unpair your watch and not just erase it because if you don’t go through the unpair process, Apple’s Activation Lock will kick in. This is a good thing if you’ve actually lost your watch but a bad thing if you are looking to sell or pass on your watch or use it with a new iPhone. Another thing: if you’re unlucky enough to have lost your iPhone, you will still need to unpair your watch in order to pair it with your new phone. Here, we’ll go... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23368317/unpair-apple-watch-iphone-how-to

Image of an iPhone 14 Pro sitting in a ball pit full of colorful pastel dots. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is fixing a bunch of big iOS 16 bugs today. A new update that’s out now, iOS 16.0.2, is meant to fix the issue where the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro’s camera would vibrate while using third-party apps , as well as the overbearing “Allow Paste” notifications , according to an Apple Support page . The patch fixes other various bugs, which you can read in the update text shown to iPhone users below: This update provides bug fixes and important security updates for your iPhone including the following: Camera may vibrate and cause blurry photos when shooting with some third-party apps on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max Display may appear completely black during device setup Copy and paste between apps may cause a permission prompt to appear... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/22/23367467/iphone-14-pro-camera-shake-fixed-ios-16-up...

A baleen whale swimming in Alaska. Many species of baleen whales, like the one pictured above, spend time in the Arctic region. | Image: Planet One Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Scientists have been “eavesdropping” on whales in the Arctic using fiber-optic cables. In July, a group of scientists published a study that took a practical method usually used to monitor the cables themselves and used it to monitor the activity of baleen whales in the Arctic. The researchers say similar studies could transform how scientists collect data on marine life. Under the oceans, fiber-optic cables carry internet traffic around the world. They have also become a usual tool for scientists in the field who would like to collect and access data in real time. Notably, they can be used to detect earthquakes , including aftershocks that go undetected by traditional seismic stations. In this case, those cables were used to detect... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.co...