Lead Hacker

Cruise’s failure to disclose the fact that a pedestrian was seriously injured by one of its driverless vehicles in San Francisco last year has now resulted in a $1.5 million fine to the federal government. Last October, a Cruise vehicle hit a pedestrian and then drug her 20 feet after she was initially struck by a human driver in a hit-and-run incident . In the aftermath, Cruise disclosed that its vehicle had struck a pedestrian but omitted details about the victim being dragged. As a result, the California DMV pulled the GM-backed company’s permit to operate self-driving cars in the state, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the incident. Today, NHTSA announced the $1.5 million penalty... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/30/24258445/cruise-nhtsa-fine-robotaxi-pedestrian-drag

Flooding in Boone, North Carolina, about an hour northeast of Spruce Pine. | Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits / Getty Images Hurricane Helene brought historic rainfall and flooding to western North Carolina last week, leaving dozens dead and catastrophic damage stretching across the state’s mountain towns. The devastation also reached the small town of Spruce Pine, which is home to the purest quartz on Earth. Spruce Pine’s high-quality quartz is an essential ingredient in the chipmaking process, as it’s the only naturally occurring source of the ultrapure mineral. The quartz mined from this area is used as a crucible to melt polysilicon, which is then used to produce silicon wafers — the base of a semiconductor. Even though it’s possible to produce pure silicon from the quartz found in abundance elsewhere in the world, it takes a considerable amount of time... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/30/24258333/hurricane-helene-quartz-chip-mining-north-carolina...

Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Amid the hullabaloo around California Gavin Newsom vetoing a closely watched artificial intelligence bill , three other bills that would regulate a different type of AI — autonomous vehicles — landed on his desk with less fanfare. The governor signed one and vetoed two others. For the second time in two years, Newsom vetoed legislation (AB 2286) that would have banned autonomous trucks from operating on public roads. He also vetoed another (AB 3061) that would set up new data reporting requirements for AV companies. And he signed a third bill into law (AB 1777) that would create guidelines for when an autonomous vehicle gets in a crash or encounters first responders. Labor groups have been pushing the state legislature to adopt an AV... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/30/24258349/california-governor-signs-veto-autonomous-vehicle-law

Illustration: The Verge Reddit is giving its staff a lot more power over the communities on its platform. Starting today, Reddit moderators will not be able to change if their subreddit is public or private without first submitting a request to a Reddit admin. The policy applies to adjusting all community types , meaning moderators will have to request to make a switch from safe for work to not safe for work, too. By requiring admin approval for the changes, Reddit is taking away a lever many communities used to protest the company’s API pricing changes last year. By going private, the community becomes inaccessible to the public, making the platform less usable for the average visitor. And that’s part of the reason behind the change. “The ability to instantly... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/30/24253727/reddit-communities-subreddits-request-protests

Photo: John Carl D’Annibale / Albany Times Union via Getty Images You know how Marvel and DC have held joint ownership over trademarks for “Super Hero” for decades? That time is apparently mostly over, as the US Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the companies’ claim to several of their trademarks, reports Reuters . The cancellation comes as the result of a challenge from Superbabies Limited, a small company that produces a series of Superbabies comics about, well, superhero babies. Superbabies creator S.J. Richold decided to challenge the two comic giants’ claim to the trademarks after DC “attempted to block Richold’s efforts to promote The Super Babies,” wrote the law firm that represented Richold in a release. Marvel and DC didn’t respond to the challenge by a July 24th, 2024 due date,... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/29/24257677/marvel-dc-super-hero-trademark-canceled-challenge-superbabies

The Razer Freyja can turn most computer chairs into haptic gaming accessories. | Image: Razer Razer has released the Freyja gaming cushion , a haptic cushion that you can attach to your gaming chair, the company announced . The cushion is $299.99, and it’s available to buy now. The Freyja is an extension of the vibration you get from gaming controllers — except instead of just jolting your hands, it buzzes several panels positioned behind and beneath you in response to things happening in a game. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Verge (@verge) The company says the cushion’s feedback comes from “multi-directional haptics powered by six advanced haptic motor actuators.” It connects via Bluetooth or through Razer’s HyperSpeed Wireless connection. Most of the time, that vibration... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/29/24257440/razer-freyja-gaming-cushion-kraken-v4-pro-headphones-haptic-fee...

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify appears to be down at the moment, with users across social media having started reporting that the app and website aren’t working over the last hour or so. It’s not working for those of us at The Verge who have tried, either. Downdetector shows a spike in the number of reports about problems with the music streaming service that started at about 10:40AM ET. Just after noon ET, Spotify acknowledged the issue. A post on its community site says: We’ve been getting some reports that Spotify is down across platforms. The Support Site looks affected as well. We’re currently aware of the situation and the relevant teams are working on it. We’re aware of some issues right now and are checking them out! — Spotify Status... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/29/24257477/spotify-outage-down-website-app

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Some of the most watched and listened to music on YouTube and YouTube Music disappeared on Saturday, replaced by a short message: Video unavailable This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country. That is probably not what people expected when they tried to stream Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep ” or other songs from artists as varied as Kendrick Lamar, Britney Spears, Green Day, Kanye West, and Burna Boy. This leaves two questions: what is SESAC, and when is the music coming back? Screenshot: YouTube SESAC stands for the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, which has been around since 1930 and, according to its website, “...currently licenses the public performance of more than... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24257157/youtube-sesac-music-licensing-streaming

Brian Williams during a Meet the Press taping in 2008. | Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images for Meet the Press Former news anchor Brian Williams is in talks to host an Amazon Prime election night special, reports Variety . The show would apparently be a “non-partisan discussion” as election night news comes in and could include multiple guests. Williams has been out of the news game for a while. He lost his role as anchor of NBC’s Nightly News after some of his reporting was found to have been repeatedly embellished . He went on to host MSNBC’s 11th Hour until he resigned from the network in 2021. If the deal goes through, Williams would begin the November 5th presidential election night broadcast as early as 5PM ET and continue for up to eight hours — or longer if the election is too close to call, writes Variety, citing unnamed sources familiar... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/28/24256903/amazon-prime-brian-williams-election-night-special

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Meta is restricting links on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook that lead to Ken Klippenstein’s newsletter containing a JD Vance dossier that was allegedly nabbed in an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign. The company has apparently removed posts containing the link and is seemingly blocking links to PDFs of the dossier being hosted elsewhere. Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold emailed Meta’s statement to The Verge : “Our policies do not allow content from hacked sources or content leaked as part of a foreign government operation to influence US elections. We will be blocking such materials from being shared on our apps under our Community Standards.” A Meta page on privacy violations forbids users from sharing details “obtained from hacked... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/28/24256815/meta-blocking-jd-vance-dossier-hack

“So full. So filled.” | Image: Disney This week, I’ve been slowly catching up on Dark Matter; I’m about 20 hours into Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the Switch; and I’m still trying to work a trip to the movie theater into my schedule to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I’m behind, in other words! And this week’s trailers shoveled so much more onto my need-to-watch pile, from the next Marvel MCU film, Thunderbolts , to the amusingly bizarre black comedy Rumours , to Disclaimer , Alfonso Cuarón’s new Apple TV Plus series. That’s to say nothing of all the game trailers from Sony’s State of Play event this week. Check out some of my favorite trailers from this week below. Thunderbolts Marvel hasn’t said much about Thunderbolts , which sees David Harbour’s Red Guardian and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/28/24256789/trailers-thunderbolts-rumors-disclaimer-sinners-apple-tv-streaming

Image: Nintendo The Nintendo Museum in Kyoto is a slick and playful trek through the company’s century-long history. But it’s lacking much in the way of revelations. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/27/24256070/nintendo-museum-kyoto-tour-shigeru-miyamoto

Image: Microsoft In response to security concerns, Microsoft is detailing how it has overhauled its controversial AI-powered Recall feature that creates screenshots of mostly everything you see or do on a computer. Recall was originally supposed to debut with Copilot Plus PCs in June, but Microsoft has spent the past few months reworking the security behind it to make it an opt-in experience that you can now fully remove from Windows if you want. “I’m actually really excited about how nerdy we got on the security architecture,” says David Weston, vice president of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft, in an interview with The Verge . “I’m excited because I think the security community is going to get how much we’ve pushed [into Recall].” One of... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/27/24255721/microsoft-windows-recall-ai-security-improvements-overhaul-uninstall

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It’s been a rough couple of months for Disney Plus subscribers. First came news of yet another price hike — which will take effect on October 17th — followed by Disney’s announcement that it will begin charging $6.99 a month to add an “extra member” to an ad-supported plan (so long, password sharing). Fortunately, both new and returning subscribers can lock in three months of Disney’s ad-supported Basic plan for $1.99 a month through the end of today, September 27th. As is the case with the base tier with most streaming services, Disney Plus Basic doesn’t allow you to download content for offline viewing. It does provide access to the same slate of programming as the more premium tiers, though, which means you can tap into TV shows and... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/27/24255200/disney-plus-basic-subscription-star-wars-outlaws-deal-sale

Garmins aren’t just multisport behemoths anymore. | Illustration by Will Joel / The Verge Garmin may be best known for its hardcore fitness watches, but it’s got an extensive line of lifestyle offerings, too. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23691498/best-garmin-smartwatch-fitness-tracker-wearables

Courtesy of Lionsgate The first trailer for director Len Wiseman’s awkwardly named ​​From the World of John Wick: Ballerina spinoff film is here, and while it doesn’t feature a premiere date, it does have an unhinged spin on Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” that honestly kinda works. Set some time between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4 , Ballerina revolves around Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas), an orphan-turned-assassin who is taken in by Continental hotel owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane) after the loss of her family. Rather than keeping Ballerina ’s connections to the larger John Wick universe rather subtle, the new film brings Eve directly into the orbit of John Wick (Keanu Reeves) as she becomes an increasingly high-profile contract killer. The... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24255157/john-wick-ballerina-trailer

An integrated USB-C hub allows accessories like external drives to be attached to an iPhone in the SuperCage while still powering it. | Image: Moment Moment’s SuperCage is a new smartphone accessory that improves the functionality and ergonomics of using a smartphone as a pro video camera. Smartphone cages for mobile filmmakers aren’t a new idea — even Moment sells a cheaper alternative — but the SuperCage is its first one integrating a USB-C hub so that there’s one less accessory needed. That way, smartphones with a USB-C port can record to an external storage device (which, in the case of the iPhone 15 and 16, unlocks ProRes 4K recording at 60fps if the storage is fast enough ) while still charging from a power bank through the 100W passthrough port. The company has made a name for itself with accessories like lenses and MagSafe tripod mounts that make it easier to film and shoot... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24255026/moment-smartphone-fi...

A couple days after prematurely revealing the phone on its website, Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S24 FE . It starts at $649.99 with 128GB of storage, and Samsung’s also offering a 256GB model for $709.99. Design-wise, we’re looking at a phone that’s very similar to last year’s version — though the S24 FE is loaded up with the company’s latest AI software capabilities like generative photo editing, instant slo-mo, and more. The new phone has a 6.7-inch OLED display with a slimmer bezel this time around, and it’s powered by Samsung’s Exynos 2400e processor, which some would consider a downgrade from the Snapdragon chip used in US editions of the S24 series. Samsung does note that a larger vapor chamber this year should help... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24255031/samsung-galaxy-s24-fe-watch-lte-tab-s10-ultra-announced

Image: Disney Plus / Marvel To make the show’s spells feel real, showrunner Jac Schaeffer prioritized practical effects over green screens. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/26/24253494/agatha-all-along-witches-road-practical-effects

Image: Insomniac Games Sony finally confirmed the PS5 Pro , and in addition to enhanced features like Wi-Fi 7 and 8K gaming, the company has been sharing how recent and older games will perform on the system. As of September 25th, it’s revealed 25 different PS5 games that developers are specifically enhancing for the new console — here’s our hands-on with 11 of them . The PS5 Pro may also “stabilize or improve the performance of supported PS4 and PS5 games” with a feature called Game Boost , and the Pro’s “enhanced image quality” could possibly improve the resolution for certain PS4 games. Here’s a non-comprehensive list of games that will receive patches to take advantage of the Pro’s graphical and performance features, and what we know about those changes so... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/10/24240027/sony-ps5-pro-enhanced-games-list-game-boost

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company would start making users pay to share their passwords this month, and now we know how much it will cost. In an announcement on Wednesday , Disney Plus says adding an “extra member” to an ad-supported plan will cost $6.99 monthly, with that price going up to $9.99 for its ad-free plan. The company says the extra member offering will let you share your subscription with a friend or family member who lives outside your household. This option only applies if you have a standalone subscription to Disney Plus — not the bundle with Hulu, ESPN Plus, and other services — and if you’re billed by Disney directly. Image: Disney The extra member add-on comes with some limitations, too. That... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/25/24254189/disney-plus-password-sharing-pricing-extra-member

Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft is delaying Assassin’s Creed Shadows from its planned November 15th release to February 14th, 2025. After showing off 12 minutes of gameplay in June , it looked like Ubisoft was set to deliver its next Assassin’s Creed installment in the usual holiday period, but now the publisher says it needs more time to get its new parkour and stealth systems ready. “We realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features,” says Marc-Alexis Côté, vice president and executive producer of Assassin’s Creed at Ubisoft. Assassin's Creed Shadows will now release February 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/J2ah7kkytW — Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) September 25, 2024 Ubisoft says , “the learnings... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/25/24254173/ubisoft-assassins-creed-shadows-delay-february-2025

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Follow along for all the updates from Meta’s annual conference, featuring everything from AR glasses to AI avatars. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/25/24250234/meta-connect-rayban-glasses-orion-ai-llama

Fitbit makes an array of fitness trackers, from basic fitness bands to full-fledged smartwatches, though the best Fitbit smartwatch isn’t technically a Fitbit. | Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge Whether you want a basic fitness tracker or a smartwatch, there’s a Fitbit for everyone — though the best Fitbit smartwatch isn’t technically a Fitbit. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/22982833/best-fitbit-watch-fitness-tracker

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images You should never voluntarily hand your phone to a police officer. It’s going to become increasingly tempting for the cops to ask and for you to comply, especially as more and more states adopt digital ID systems that allow driver’s licenses and state IDs to be added to Apple Wallet on iOS and Google Wallet on Android. Californians can now add their driver’s licenses and state IDs to their iPhones and Apple Watches in addition to Android devices , making the state one of seven — alongside Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Hawaii, and Ohio — to allow storing digital IDs through Apple’s system. These particular digital IDs are so far pretty limited. California’s are for use at “select TSA checkpoints” and participating businesses, for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24252235/police-unlock-phone-password-face-id-apple-wallet-id

Image: Sony Sony has introduced a new OLED gaming monitor that’s aiming to appeal to competitive players across both PC and PS5 systems. The 27-inch InZone M10S was codeveloped with the popular Fnatic esports team to be “tournament ready,” sporting a 1440p panel that pairs a speedy 0.03ms response time with a variable 480Hz refresh rate. The M10S is available to order online starting today, with a recommended retail price of $1,099.99. Its specs alone make it one of the fastest OLED gaming displays you can buy, matching the capabilities of the high-end panels that LG Display unveiled at CES back in January. Achieving the full 480Hz will be dependent on frame rate and GPU performance for PC users, however, and PS5 consoles will cap that at 120Hz. S... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24253167/sony-inzone-gaming-monitor-m10s-480hz-oled

Image: Rode Audio tech company Rode is joining the podcast industry’s pivot to video by releasing its own all-in-one video and audio production console for livestreaming and broadcasting. The Rodecaster Video mimics the design of more professional video switchers: six video inputs (four HDMI and two USB-C), two HDMI outputs, two combo XLR/1/4” jack inputs, 20 possible audio sources (nine stereo channels simultaneously), and seven customizable scene buttons. Image: Rode A glimpse at the ports on the Rodecaster Video. The new console enables users to operate a near-full video production: from audio mixing to video monitoring to graphics triggering, scene building, recording, and chroma keying (green or blue screen!) for... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/24/24250252/the-rodecaster-video-could-help-podcasters-become-broadcasters

Image: Google Google announced today that it’s extending all the software features of its new Google TV Streamer to every Google TV device . This includes its smart home control panel, a new sports page, and new Gemini-powered features. According to Google, the updates will come to all devices, including Google TVs, Chromecasts with Google TV , and third-party Google TV streamers (like the Onn available at Walmart ), in the coming weeks. The biggest upgrade for smart home users is the new Home panel. This smart home control panel is accessed via a tile in the quick settings panel and lets you control devices connected to Google Home. You can do things like turn lights on or off or dim / brighten, trigger a Movie Time automation, and adjust your... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/23/24252165/google-smart-home-panel-comes-to-all-google-tvs

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is telling Premium subscribers outside the US that they’ll be paying more for the service soon, social media users began reporting over the weekend. So far, the higher prices are being reported in regions that include the EU, the Middle East, and South America, according to Android Authority . The price increases affect both individual and family plans. In some EU countries, people have said they were told their family plans will be going from €17.99 to €25.99 (or €11.99 to €13.99 for individuals) starting on November 7th . Posts on social media are reporting similar increases in places like Singapore , Colombia , and Saudi Arabia . A Reddit user is tracking the amounts in one thread. Another Reddit user posted screenshots of a... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/23/24252145/youtube-premium-price-increase-europe-asia-middle-east-south-america

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images A late inquiry kept US gymnast Jordan Chiles off the podium. But who is to blame? The judges, the technology, or the way we measure time itself? Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24240873/paris-olympics-2024-gymnastics-jordan-chiles-controversy

The at-home treatment could assist people who are unable to travel to immunization appointments. | Photo by Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images The Food and Drug Administration has approved a nasally-administered influenza immunization treatment that can be taken at home. FluMist — a nasal spray vaccine that AstraZeneca initially developed as an in-office treatment two decades ago — will still require a prescription to obtain and is expected to be made available via a new online pharmacy next year, according to The New York Times . The treatment will require people to fill out a questionnaire on the upcoming FlueMist Home website. Once approved by a pharmacist, the nasal spray will be shipped directly to the customer’s door. The current out-of-pocket cost is around $35 to $45 per dose according to the NYT , but that may drop depending on insurance coverage. The Centers for Disease... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024...

image: iFixit No sooner has the Phone 16 lineup arrived than the folks at iFixit start taking them apart , a process made easier this time around by the day-one release of repair manuals from Apple. The disassembly process shows the Camera control is a real button that moves, along with a flex cable that likely measures force, and the heat sink that appears positioned to keep the A18 chip’s Neural Engine cool while it handles AI workloads. For this year’s refresh, the base iPhone 16 may be more interesting than the Pro model for one reason — it’s the first one using electrically debondable adhesive for its battery enclosure. As reported in June by The Information , Apple isn’t using the new adhesive on all of its phones yet, but now we have a lot more... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/22/24251327/iphone-16-teardown-repair-battery-adhesive

Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 53, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage .) This week, I’ve been reading about Beyoncé and Rosanna Pansino and Bowen Yang , pouring my life back into Todoist , watching the end of The Grand Tour , catching up on some My Brother, My Brother and Me episodes, seeing if the Pixel Recorder app can replace my trusty voice recorder, and moving Headspace to my homescreen to see if it helps me meditate more. (So far… no.) I also have for you a truly wild new pair of AR glasses, a Batman-adjacent show on HBO, a great new book about the end of Twitter, a funny twist on... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/22/24249948/socialai-snap-spectacles-snapchat-penguin-installer

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media A year after multiple publications reported Jony Ive was collaborating with Sam Altman on a hardware project, Ive himself as confirmed it in a profile in the New York Times . There aren’t a lot of details. He met Altman through Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, and the project is being funded by Ive and the Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs company. The New York Times claims it could raise $1 billion in funding by the end of the year. There was no mention of Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank CEO rumored last year to have invested a $1 billion in the project . The project only has 10 employees currently, but they include Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, two key people who worked with Ive on the iPhone. As for the device itself? Last year it was... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/21/24250867/jony-ive-confirms-collaboration-openai-hardware

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Back in the Mad Men days, the only thing that might interrupt the corporate blandness of a workspace might be a photo of your family or maybe a coffee cup with a funny saying. But nowadays, especially if we’re working at home, we can have some pretty interesting, weird, or just plain nice-looking items on our desks. We asked the folks here at The Verge what they have on their desks or in their offices that they keep just for the hell of it — because they like it, because it means something special, or just because. Here are some of the answers we got. A looping gif of our late cat Pouncey on my keyboard’s LCD Antonio G. Di Benedetto, commerce / deals writer GIF: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge The LCD on the... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/24248065/favorites-desk-toys-keepsakes

Image: The Verge Brazilian fan account owners might have a reason to rejoice, as X could be returning to Brazil. According to the New York Times , in a court filing Friday night the company agreed to abide by the Supreme Court’s request in order to have the countrywide ban lifted: Now, X’s lawyers said the company had done exactly what Mr. Musk vowed not to: take down accounts that a Brazilian justice ordered removed because the judge said they threatened Brazil’s democracy. X also complied with the justice’s other demands, including paying fines and naming a new formal representative in the country, the lawyers said. The company has spent the last three weeks fighting the ban and continuing to distribute content from members of the far right community in... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/21/24250697/x-complies-brazil-supreme-court

Sadly, Theory 1 isn’t going into production. | Image: Lotus Lotus revealed its new Theory 1 electric sports car , a concept that the automaker says “embodies the future of intelligent performance vehicles.” It’s a visual aid for Lotus’ new Digital, Natural, and Analogue (DNA — get it?) design principles on which it plans to base its performance vehicles for the modern era. Theory 1 features Lotus’ new “Lotuswear” interior that promises an immersive and personalized driving experience. It adapts physically to the driver and passengers, making seats more comfortable and communicating with lights and haptic feedback that can tell you when to make a turn, for example. The interior materials are lightweight robotic textiles built by MotorSkins that use inflatable pods in the seating and steering... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/20/24249976/lotus-theory-1-concept-lightweight-sports-cars-ev-lotuswear

Garmins aren’t just multisport behemoths anymore. | Illustration by Will Joel / The Verge Garmin may be best known for its hardcore fitness watches, but it’s got an extensive line of lifestyle offerings, too. Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/23691498/best-garmin-smartwatch-fitness-tracker-wearables

A worker demonstrates how lithium is recovered from brine at a Standard Lithium facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, US, on Thursday, July 20, 2023. | Photo: Getty Images The US Department of Energy announced today plans to dole out more than $3 billion to over two dozen battery projects across 14 states. The money will go toward processing critical minerals, building batteries and their components, and recycling batteries. It’s part of the Biden administration’s push for more domestic manufacturing to support its climate goals . Batteries are an increasingly hot commodity needed for electric vehicles and to store renewable energy from solar and wind projects. New battery facilities are cropping up all over the US thanks in part to federal support in the form of grants, loans, and tax incentives. New battery facilities are cropping up all over the US The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/20/24249856...

Amazon is using generative AI to create tailored product recommendations based on user’s shopping history. | Image: Amazon Amazon has introduced a batch of new generative AI tools that aim to improve the retail experience for both customers and sellers on the platform. One of the more notable features announced at the Amazon Accelerate event on Thursday will use customers’ preferences, search, browsing, and purchase history to create personalized product recommendations on Amazon’s homepage. Instead of the “more like this” feature that suggests similar, specific items, the new recommendations will be offered as larger categories based on a customer’s shopping habits — such as those catering to holiday events or sporting activities. The company says it’s leveraging a large language model to recommend products with specific features, but it’s not clear how... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24249046/amazon-generative-ai-tools-personalized-shopping-re...

The United States Environmental Protection Agency building is seen on August 21st in Washington, DC. | Photo by Tierney L. Cross / Getty Images Implementing Project 2025, the conservative manifesto written by ex-Trump officials , could have serious repercussions on public health, former Environmental Protection Agency employees warn . Air quality protections issued over the past four years are supposed to cut down pollution and associated health risks, preventing premature deaths and hospital visits for years to come. A group called the Environmental Protection Network (EPN), created by hundreds of former EPA employees during an exodus of scientists from the agency under the Trump administration, counted up the benefits in a recent report . But that outcome isn’t guaranteed. Many of the policies recently enacted under the Biden administration could be in jeopardy if Donald Trump... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24248267/epa-air-pollution-report-b...

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images Top policy executives from Meta, Microsoft, and Google testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday about what they’re doing to protect US voters from foreign election threats in 2024. But the elephant in the room was the pressure campaign social media companies have faced from the right to take a more hands-off approach when it comes to labeling or demoting misinformation. With 48 days until the US presidential election, Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) called in tech companies to discuss the threats they’re seeing so far and how they’re responding. Warner took pains to emphasize that his chief concern was with foreign malicious activity, not domestic — seemingly in an effort to find common ground with his... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24248501/senate-intelligence-committee-election-threats-hearing-meta-google-microsoft

Chrome users will need to either unlock their Android screen or use the Password Manager PIN feature to use passkeys on new devices. | Illustration: The Verge Google is improving passkey support in Chrome by making it easier to use the passwordless sign-in credentials across different devices. The search giant is introducing a Google Password Manager PIN that allows users to securely save and synchronize passkeys for use across Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android devices. These updates are available in beta on ChromeOS as well, with iOS support “coming soon.” Passkeys needed to be saved to Google Password Manager on Android prior to this update and required users to scan a QR code on their Android device to access them on other platforms. The new PIN replaces the need to scan the QR code while ensuring that your saved passkeys remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so not even Google can... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/19/24248820/google-ch...

As long as there’s a breeze, the Shine 2.0 wind turbine can generate power all night long. | Image: Aurea Technologies Unlike solar panels that can only generate power while the sun’s shining, Aurea Technologies’ new Shine 2.0 portable wind turbine can potentially work all day long. That is, as long as the weather cooperates and provides an 8mph breeze needed to keep the turbine’s blades spinning. Now available for preorder through a Kickstarter campaign offering discounts on its full $571 retail pricing for early backers, the Shine 2.0 is an improved version of the company’s first portable wind turbine that arrives with several welcome upgrades. Image: Aurea Technologies The Shine 2.0 folds down into a portable package that looks like an elongated football. The Shine 2.0, and an included three-foot-tall support with stability... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248077/shine-2-wind-portable-turbine-power-emergency

Photo by Sjoerd van der Wal / Getty Images The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill Wednesday requiring new cars to have AM radio, which was introduced in response to an increasing number of vehicles coming out without the first-generation radio broadcast technology . The bill passed the committee on a roll-call vote of 45-2 and now heads to the full House for final approval. The bill, titled the AM for Every Vehicle Act, would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a rule that “requires automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in their vehicles without a separate or additional payment, fee, or surcharge.” Supporters say they are pushing the bill out of a concern that the slow demise of AM radio could make it more difficult to... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248137/am-radio-bill-house-energy-commerce-ev-interference

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Meta and eyewear conglomerate EssilorLuxottica plan to work together on smart glasses “into the next decade.” The two announced a long-term agreement today to extend a partnership that started in 2019 and has yielded two generations of Ray-Ban smart glasses. The collaboration has helped Meta make smart glasses that stand out for their style So far, the collaboration has helped Meta make smart glasses that stand out for their style . It looks like Meta wants to keep that trend going with its next generations of frames. Aside from Ray-Ban, EssilorLuxottica also owns Oakley and has licensing agreements with luxury brands, including Versace, Prada, Chanel, and others. “I’m excited about our long term roadmap ahead. We have the opportunity... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/17/24247236/meta-ray-ban-smart-glasses-essilorluxottica

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge Green bubbles, rejoice: your iPhone-using friends are finally going to have a much better time texting you. As part of iOS 18, which was released for everyone on Monday, Apple added support for RCS , the Rich Communication Services protocol for messaging. This means that chats between iPhone and Android users will finally have a bunch of sorely needed features that should have been in place a long time ago. A big reason I’ve stayed on iOS (and haven’t even considered switching to Android) is because iMessage conversations work especially well for my family group chats, and I don’t want to nerf those chats. This new RCS support is a great step toward making iPhone-to-Android texts work a lot better (though there are still enough drawbacks... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/17/24246695/apple-iphone-ios-18-rcs-green-bubbles-android-upgraded

Photo: Nilay Patel / The Verge Apple is rolling out iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 , which will introduce a bunch of new features to the iPhone and iPad. One of the biggest changes with today’s launch is the addition of RCS messaging, which should help improve communication with Android users. First announced in June , RCS messaging will finally allow iPhone and Android users to share high-res photos and videos , see typing indicators, and use read receipts. (Messages from Android users will still appear in green bubbles, though.) Some other messaging upgrades in iOS 18 include new text effects and formatting options in iMessage and the ability to schedule messages to send later. iPhone users will also be able to send messages via satellite . Additionally, iOS 18 includes new... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/16/24246090/ios-18-iphone-launch-rcs-homepage-customization-features

LG’s ThinQ ON hub is at the center of its new smart home efforts. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge After years of being on the fringes of home automation, LG is now making a big play in the smart home. It has a shiny new multi-protocol hub , is opening its ThinQ platform to work with more smart home devices, and will soon allow other platforms to integrate its appliances into their ecosystems. ThinQ’s shift from being solely an app to control LG appliances and electronics to becoming a competitor to smart home platforms like Samsung’s SmartThings and Apple Home has been spurred by the standardization of smart home connectivity through initiatives like Thread and Matter and the rapid development of artificial intelligence. “Until now, the smart home was all about the connectivity of smart devices, but with the emergence of generative... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/16/24243056/lg-thinq-smart-home-platform-thinq-on-hub

Aerial image of a controlled burn. | Image: Google A Google-backed initiative aims to prevent raging infernos by using satellites that can detect small fires before they grow out of control. The goal is to launch a constellation of satellites called FireSat into low Earth orbit. It’s a collaboration between a newly founded nonprofit coalition called Earth Fire Alliance and the startup Muon Space, which designs and operates satellite networks. Google.org is funding the project, and Google’s research team is also helping to develop the technology to spot wildfires and monitor their growth from space. “There is a significant gap between the data we have available today and what we could have with better satellite coverage.” Climate change is setting the stage for more monstrous wildfires... Continue reading… source https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/16/24243996/fire-satellite-google-firesat-constellation