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Photo by Fotos International/Courtesy of Getty Images Nichelle Nichols, who was best known for her groundbreaking role as Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series, died at age 89. Her son, Kyle Johnson, informed her fans in a post on Nichols’ Instagram account. “Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away,” Johnson writes. “Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nichelle Nichols (@nichellenicholsofficial) Nichols was born on December 28th, 1932 in Robbins, Illinois. Before joining the cast of Star Trek , Nichols toured with jazz artist Duke... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/tEU7VTg

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Considering how intertwined music discovery is with TikTok, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the company launched a music streaming app of its own. Well, patent filings uncovered by Insider suggest TikTok’s working on just that. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “TikTok Music” in May. According to the filing, the service would let users purchase, play, share, and download music. It would also allow users to create, share, and recommend playlists, comment on music, as well as livestream audio and video. ByteDance already filed for a “TikTok Music” trademark in Australia last November. ByteDance already has experience with music streaming. In 2020, ByteDance... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/rADQa4d

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Just days after the Pixel 6A’s launch, Google’s rolling out an update to fix an issue preventing users from unlocking the bootloader and performing mods, according to a report from Android Police . The change is bundled within the Pixel 6A’s first update , which Google just started releasing last week. In short, a bootloader is a piece of software that loads the operating system (OS) on a device when it turns on. Gaining access to the bootloader on Android can give you full control over your OS in a process known as rooting. It also allows you to install modded versions of Android, called ROMs. While some phone-makers and carriers don’t let you unlock your device’s bootloader, Google does things differently. It lets you dive right in on... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/LQUmjXM

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in MGM’s 2018 Tomb Raider. | Image: Warner Bros Tomb Raider’s movie rights are up for grabs. According to a report from TheWrap , the Amazon-owned MGM waited too long to create a sequel to its 2018 Tomb Raider film, freeing up the rights for the next Hollywood studio that wants to take a stab at creating an adaption of the long-running video game franchise. Several studios are currently engaged in a bidding war to snap up the Tomb Raider rights, TheWrap reports. And since the license come with no obligation to retain the same cast and crew, the next Tomb Raider film could be a total reboot that passes the Lara Croft baton to yet another actress. The 2018 Tomb Raider stars Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, and was met with mixed reviews that criticized its weak portrayal of the series’... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/g2X9PTL

There’s a lot to be said for an app with one singular function, and that’s what makes the Tab app so magical. Unlike other bill splitting apps like Splitwise , which lets you split and track any type of expense, the Tab app exists to only split meal bills among a group of people. That’s it — that’s all it does. I was first introduced to the app by my friends when I lived in New York City. After many dinners and debates over who ordered an extra side of fries, who got three beers instead of two, and who just had an hors d’oeuvre in place of an entree, we were fed up with doing basic math so the five or six people at the table could each pay their fair share. Thus, we transitioned to the Tab app . Its appeal came from the ease of signing up... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/6WAcxBb

Whether you want the best photo quality or ultra-portability, there’s a printer for you. The little prints Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/9FYHIqU

No Finder required.  Apple has made macOS very good at handling drag and drops . For example, I often pull a picture right out of the Photos app or Safari and drop it into iMessage or Slack. One thing that’s always slowed me down, though, is moving around more traditional files, like PDFs or other documents. But then I learned that quite a few apps, including many of the built-in ones, have a quick shortcut to get at the file you’re viewing. Using this shortcut (which is officially called the proxy icon ), you can easily do things like upload a PDF you have open in Preview to Google Drive without having to go looking for the file in Finder. Here’s how it works: GIF of someone dragging a file from Preview to a Safari window with Google Drive. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xtoazWH

Image: Liam Daniel / Netflix Netflix is suing Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, the duo behind The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical over copyright infringement, as first reported by Deadline . The streaming giant filed the complaint in a Washington, DC district court just days after Barlow and Bear held a live, sold-out show dedicated to their Bridgerton -inspired album. After Bridgerton ’s 2020 debut, Barlow and Bear began creating music based on the Netflix original series and promoting the endeavor on TikTok, where it quickly gained popularity. As fans requested more content, Barlow and Bear soon had enough to create a 15-song album that went on to win a Grammy in April, a first for music originating on TikTok . On July 26th, Barlow and Bear held a concert at the Kennedy... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Eg09daD

A Long March 5B rocket with the Wentian lab module lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site. | Photo by Yang Guanyu/Xinhua via Getty Images China’s uncontrolled Long March 5B rocket reentered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, landing somewhere near Sarawak, the Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. The US Space Command confirmed the rocket’s reentry at 12:45PM ET, but it remains unclear where its debris landed. In a translated post on Weibo , China’s Manned Space Agency said the rocket reentered near the same area, and that most of it burned up on its way down. Uncertainty about where the rocket would land rippled across the globe On July 24th, China used a Long March 5B rocket to launch a lab module to its unfinished Tiangong space station . Unlike most rockets, the Long March 5B thrusts its first stage into orbit when delivering its payload. This piece, which... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/itFY9MA

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Indonesian government has blocked access to a range of online services, including Steam, Epic Games, PayPal, and Yahoo after the companies failed to comply with a new requirement related to the country’s restrictive content moderation laws, as reported earlier by Reuters . In line with the rules, companies deemed “Private Electronic System Providers” must register with the government’s database to operate in the country, or otherwise face a nationwide ban. Indonesia gave companies until July 27th to comply and has since banned those that haven’t. The requirement is part of an overarching law, called MR5 The requirement is part of an overarching law, called MR5, which was first introduced in 2020. As noted by Reuters , the laws give... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ZReOgXS

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple is planning to show ads in the App Store’s Today tab and on individual app pages, according to MacRumors , 9to5Mac , and AppleInsider . The two new ad placements will expand upon the ads you can already see in the App Store’s search tab and in search results. Ads in the Today tab will appear in the larger card format used by other content in that tab, but you’ll see a small blue box with the word “Ad” inside it under the app’s name. Ads in individual app pages will appear under the “You Might Also Like” header that suggests apps related to the one you’re looking at. Like in App Store search, ads on app pages will be highlighted in blue to distinguish them from other recommendations. According to 9to5Mac , ad buyers won’t be able to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fPtXWVh

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Handing over your phone — full of photos, texts, and other personal private info — to a repair person can feel dicey. After all, the horrifying reality of having your data leaked during the repair process has actually happened to some people. SamMobile found a press release from Samsung’s Korean press site stating that the company hopes to put an end to that with a new privacy feature called Repair Mode ( via Ars Technica ). It’ll give technicians a limited amount of access to your phone’s innards. From the sound of it, they’ll be able to access enough to make the fix but not so much to leak your pics. This feature is coming first to Galaxy S21 phones in South Korea. The company plans to expand support to other models in the future. As... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/jFofOQU

As a giant panda, Meng Meng does not need to worry about corporate emails on her birthday. | Photo by Chen Jimin/China News Service via Getty Images Automated birthday emails are a constant of modern life, right up there with death, taxes, and computer updates with poor timing. Once a year, my inbox fills to the brim with reminders of just how many companies I’ve entrusted with my birthdate. But not this year. No, this year was going to be different. This year I went on a relentless unsubscribing kick, just ruthlessly clicking the unsubscribe button whenever something from a corporate mailing list came into my inbox. But I knew that some things were definitely going to still sneak through. See, companies can’t resist a birthday. It’s one of the easiest things they can do to get someone’s attention. “​​Birthday emails are one of the most effective emails you can send,” says a blog... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/OHGI845

Image: Mapbox This interactive world map visualizes “ a cross-verified database of notable people ” to show you the most notable person in your hometown — or anywhere else you might want to look. Topi Tjukanov, a geographer and senior map designer at Mapbox, put the visualization together, which features different influential people from fields including culture, science, leadership, and sports. What someone contributes to society to be considered notable can vary, so researchers tried to narrow it down and account for biases where possible. Did you know Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar and Barack Obama in Honolulu? Who is the most famous person from your home town? I made a map of the most notable people around the world. Built with @Mapbox . C... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/z41qWun

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 not just to pinpoint your enemies but also to 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... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/lytYNoP

It takes about five seconds to set up. If you want to know what frame rates your Steam games are running at, there are many third-party programs out there to help. But if all you need is a very basic counter and you don’t care about other hardware stats, you don’t need to download any of these — you can use a feature that’s built right into Steam. Here’s how to set up Steam’s built-in FPS counter for your PC. I go with the top left, myself. Open Steam. Go to Steam > Settings > In-Game . Under In-game FPS counter , select the corner where you’d like the counter to appear. You can also check High contrast color if you prefer. Click Ok . Now, go ahead and start your game. You should see the frame rate your game is running at displayed in the corner that you... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nYTs3c8

Lawmakers are blaming “three hostile foreign actors.” | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The federal courts’ document system was hit by a breach with a “startling breadth and scope” in early 2020, according to a report from Politico that cites testimony from House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler. The Department of Justice (DOJ) reportedly informed the judiciary about the breach in March and told lawmakers that an investigation is ongoing. Other lawmakers, such as Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), expressed concern that the DOJ had been hiding information about the breach and was refusing to explain it to the public and Congress. Nadler reportedly said that the “system security failure” was the work of “three hostile foreign actors,” though, according to Reuters security officials for the DOJ didn’t specify which countries... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xeWvMf3

It’s a mod. After the Nier: Automata community went through a good 96-ish hours of pure, high-octane gas trying to figure out if a heretofore undiscovered church was a mod or an Easter egg or an ARG put together by Yoko Taro and his merry band of weirdos, a trio of modders has come forward and admitted it was a mod. “We have been loving all the discussions and theories — it has been an amazing journey,” reads a statement from the trio. “It has been inspiring to see the community come together after so many years, it has made all the hard work well worth it.” Image: Reddit The mod represents an impressive technological advancement for the Nier: Automata modding community, which in and of itself makes the entire “hoax”... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ewSNDrz

It’s making several changes to the Play Store. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is trying to cut down on annoying, unskippable ads in Android apps and overall bad behavior in the Play Store ( via TechCrunch ). The company announced wide-ranging policy changes on Wednesday that update rules across several categories to be more specific, clamping down on loopholes developers may have used to skirt existing rules. One of the changes that will impact your everyday phone usage the most is for ads. Google says its updated guidelines, which will go into effect on September 30th, help ensure “high quality experiences for users when they are using Google Play apps.” The new policy tells developers that apps can’t pop up a full-screen ad that won’t let you close it after 15 seconds. There are some exceptions — if you... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/cmyLQba

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge It might get cheaper and easier to buy popular tech products, like gaming consoles and graphics cards, after Congress approved $52 billion in funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing. In a 243-187 vote on Thursday, the House passed the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen US science and technology innovation. The bill, a Biden administration priority, includes $52 billion in subsidies to encourage chip manufacturers to build out semiconductor fabrications plants, or “fabs,” in the US. After months of negotiations between the House and Senate, Thursday’s approval resolves the looming threat of chipmakers reconsidering plans to build US plants. Earlier this month, the groundbreaking ceremony for a $20 billion Intel... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ntqA6RI

Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images Democrats are recharging the fight for net neutrality by introducing a new bill on Thursday that would codify the deeply divisive open internet rules. Led by Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Net Neutrality and Broadband Justice Act would reclassify broadband internet service as an essential service, authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to enforce rules banning discriminatory practices like blocking and throttling certain lanes of internet traffic. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) is spearheading bicameral legislation in the House. “We need net neutrality so that powerful social media companies can’t step on their competition by cutting deals with big broadband providers,” Markey said during a Thursday press... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/vKfR1Bo

Kristen Radtke / The Verge Say goodbye to the TikTok-style feed and at least some of those recommendations Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/8aFUTM6

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images It’s been a long road for the “Build Back Better” plan — but Wednesday night, after over a year of both public and private negotiations , we finally saw a proposal that could actually clear Congress. Renamed the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the new Sen. Manchin-endorsed proposal would raise roughly $740 billion in revenue through a combination of tax increases and price negotiation — and divert $370 billion of that money to fighting climate change. If it makes it through Congress, the bill would be the largest climate spending package in US history — and with alarming heatwaves in progress all around the world, it couldn’t come at a better time. But while the sheer volume of the package is striking, it’s even more interesting where the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/OpbEjDa

On the evening of Thursday, July 28, we were surprised by the breaking news of the BGMI ban. Battlegrounds Mobile India was suddenly removed from Google Play and Apple App Store. Upon further digging, we have learned that this was done on the order of the Indian Government. The details are scanty and there is no official word from the Government yet. Still, here's what we know so far. BGMI Ban By Indian Government It’s been just over a year since Krafton brought back PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) in a new avatar called Battlegrounds Mobile Inda (BGMI). Just earlier this month, the game celebrated its first anniversary with a special login event. The last we reported of the game was that it banned 45000 players for cheating. Alas, weeks later, we have this sad news for its fans the game has been pulled out of the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.  This is what Google said to Techcrunch about the BGMI removal from Play Store: “On receipt of the order, following es

Image: John McAfee in Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022 Netflix’s new documentary depicts the antivirus founder turned fugitive John McAfee and his life on the run after becoming a suspect in the 2012 murder of his neighbor in Belize ( via Deadline ). McAfee asked a film crew to document his experience as he evaded the authorities — and the Mexican cartel, apparently. The documentary, called Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee , has video journalists thrown into the whirlwind that is McAfee’s life. With guns, drugs, and alcohol in tow, the group traverses through Belize and Guatemala and somehow winds up on a boat headed to the Bahamas. To say McAfee had an interesting history would be an understatement. After making a name for himself as the creator of the McAfee antivirus... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/O9HAQw1

After insinuating that it planned to leave the International Space Station partnership after 2024, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos has told NASA that it intends to remain in the program until at least 2028, according to a report in Reuters . Roscosmos plans to stay involved with the ISS until it gets a new Russian space station up and running, with 2028 as the target date. Roscosmos caused turmoil yesterday when its newly appointed director, Yuri Borisov, told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a decision had been made to leave the ISS partnership after 2024. However, the statement was vague and did not specify when after 2024 Roscosmos planned to leave, only saying that Russia hoped to transition focus to a new space... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/X19Dzlf

Photo by Loren Grush / The Verge Tesla made a change to its free data connectivity tier that could potentially have a big impact on the way its customers use their vehicles. The included Standard Connectivity package, which adds basic navigation features without live traffic views or satellite maps and the ability to stream music over Bluetooth, will now expire after eight years ( via Electrek ). Eight years is still a significant duration of time to have the included navigation and Bluetooth features, but it’s just one lessened note for potential buyers. In a time when car companies are looking for more revenue streams by imposing subscription fees to use already included features ( looking at you, BMW ), Tesla’s move to impose a time limit on data usage certainly weakens... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/yQLPuS3

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Microsoft’s security and threat intelligence teams have reportedly caught an Austrian company selling spyware based on previously unknown Windows exploits. The new details were released on Wednesday in a technical blog post from Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC), published to coincide with written testimony given by the software company to a House Intelligence Committee hearing on commercial spyware and cyber surveillance. The spyware developer — officially named DSIRF but which Microsoft tracks under the codename KNOTWEED — made spyware known as Subzero that was used to target law firms, banks, and consultancy firms in the UK, Austria, and Panama, Microsoft said. Analysis from MSTIC found that exploits used by DSIRF to... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/vP6QSpc

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge We’re still at least two years away from ditching the invasive cookies, fingerprinting, and other tech that track user information and behavior across multiple sites for advertising to using Google’s preferred Privacy Sandbox set of replacements. Google originally published its intention to phase out support for third-party tracking cookies in Chrome within two years in early 2020 — now about two and a half years (and one global pandemic) ago. In a blog post published today , Google Privacy Sandbox vice president Anthony Chavez writes, “we now intend to begin phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024.” Regulatory pressure spurred a previous delay that pushed the window into 2023 , but its current development... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/DmvuCS7

Instagram showing a Timehop post in 2014. | Photo: The Verge When Facebook made a bid to buy Instagram in 2012 for a record-setting $1 billion, many people thought Mark Zuckerberg was making a mistake. But purchasing Instagram turned out to be one of the best tech acquisitions of all time, helping secure Facebook’s dominance in social media for years to come. It did that by quickly imprinting its influence on the famously simple photo-sharing app, adding new features that helped it grow to over 1 billion users. This kind of change could be controversial, even internally. Case in point: some early employees resisted getting rid of Instagram’s old requirement that every photo on the app had to be square-shaped. “It sounds so small now, but at the time, it was a sacred cow of the company,” said... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/XVJ7yRc

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint to block Meta from acquiring Within, the company behind the virtual reality fitness app Supernatural. The FTC claims Meta bought Within to absorb competition in the fitness market, where it already owned the similar app Beat Saber . The complaint follows months of speculation that regulators might intervene in Meta’s growing dominance of the consumer VR market , as well as an FTC probe reportedly opened in December of 2021. “Meta in recent years has set its sights on building, and ultimately controlling, a VR ‘metaverse,’” the FTC’s complaint says . It alleges that Meta saw fitness as a “killer app” market that would help it dominate the nascent VR medium, and Within threatened the... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/0m7YpRw

Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge Microsoft posted the fourth quarter of its 2022 financial results today , reporting revenue of $51.9 billion and a net income of $16.7 billion. Revenue is up 12 percent, and net income has increased by just 2 percent. But while revenue was up, Microsoft saw some of its core businesses, including Windows and Xbox, start to slip. The PC market had been thriving throughout the pandemic, but PC shipments experienced a big decline in the recent quarter — nearly 13 percent according to Gartner. It’s the sharpest decline in nine years, thanks to geopolitical tensions, inflation, and continued supply chain challenges. Microsoft’s Windows OEM revenue, the price PC manufactures pay Microsoft to put Windows on machines, fell 2 percent in Q4, driven... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/LRYFyW1

Games that can’t be played may have an exclamation point icon. | Image: Eden Marie on Twitter Scrolling through your Xbox game library, it can be difficult to tell which games you can actually play at the moment — perhaps you downloaded something from Game Pass, but it’s no longer on the service, or your friend came over to play a game and took the disc it was on home with them. Microsoft is currently testing a solution to this problem, with badges that will warn you that a game can’t be launched, according to Xbox engineering lead Eden Marie. In a Twitter thread , Marie explains that the feature adds two badges on screens where you see games, like the homescreen or game library. If you can’t play a game because of licensing issues — say, it was taken off of Game Pass, or you’re currently not logged into the Xbox Live account... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/tqeUVbs

The Meta Quest 2 is arguably the default VR headset, but it’s getting more expensive soon. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The incredibly popular Meta Quest 2 VR headset will have its price increased starting in August , with the 128GB configuration getting a price hike to $399.99 and the 256GB model being inflated to $499.99. However, you can still find both models on sale for their original price of $299.99 and $399.99 at multiple retailers, giving you some time to grab one before the price goes up. To be clear, Meta isn’t adding any new features or hardware once the price goes up — the Meta Quest 2 will be the exact same console, just $100 more expensive. Anyone that purchases a Meta Quest 2 within 30 days of the price hike will get a free copy of Beat Saber (a $30 value). If you’ve been on the fence about owning one of these VR headsets, now would be a... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/K3LfzIB

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Uber’s premium electric car service is arriving in more US cities, the company said. Uber Comfort Electric, which is more expensive than Uber X but not as posh as Uber Black, is now available in seven additional cities, including Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Austin, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In May, Uber launched Comfort Electric in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Dubai. Only premium EVs, like Tesla, Polestar, and Ford Mustang Mach-E, would be considered eligible for Comfort Electric trips. It will sit alongside the company’s other EV product, Uber Green , which gives drivers an extra fee (usually $1) to use electric vehicles. Comfort Electric is an extension of Uber Comfort , in which riders could request extra... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/yZWtBHv

The Dell XPS 13 is one of the best laptops for high school and college students. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Shopping for a laptop can be stressful — doubly stressful if you or your children will be learning online for the first time. Kids of different ages have a range of different laptop use cases and different needs. And as the choices for best laptop and best Chromebook evolve, so do students’ needs. So I spoke to some experts on the subject: students themselves. My recommendations here are meant to accommodate a variety of preferences and price ranges. But they’re a jumping-off point rather than an exhaustive list: every student is different. Before making a decision, you’ll want to make sure you read reviews and try out devices yourself if you can. I’ll do my best to keep this article up to date with items that are in stock. Best laptop... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ovQB6fI

Google Glass. Every major tech company is working on computer glasses. None of them really want to go first. They all remember how Google Glass, and the “Glassholes” who wore them in public, became the laughingstock of the world. So they’ve been waiting, biding their time, refining their prototypes , and every so often making sure investors know that, no, they’re not going to let the first potentially iPhone-sized opportunity since the iPhone slip by. But now, Google itself is taking the next step. And whether you’ve been dreading the moment when Big Tech’s all-seeing eyes reappear on people’s heads or merely counting the days until you can own a hands-free camera-computer, you should know we’re on the verge of contending with them once again. ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Lx3B6pw

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for Coachella Meta launched a new feature on Monday that allows creators to monetize Facebook videos that feature music from major artists like Post Malone and Tove Lo. By incentivizing creators to stay within the legal bounds of music use on its platforms, Meta may be able to reassure the music industry that it takes copyright infringement seriously. Creators will have access to a library of music licensed by Meta and can monetize videos that feature licensed music with ads. Those creators will then get a 20 percent cut of the ad revenue, while Meta and the music rights holders split the rest. But the new system has ground rules: eligible videos must be at least one minute long, and the music cannot be the primary purpose of the video. It also does... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/fnHQpI9

You too can make a Verge -themed Lego minifigure. | Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge Lego is testing a new online Minifigure maker, the Minifigure Factory , that lets you create a Lego person of your very own ( via Jay’s Brick Blog , which I promise has no relation to me). In the tool, you’ll be able to select different heads, headwear, torsos, legs, and accessories for your custom Minifig. For the torso, you can go really deep on customization by applying decals and custom text. (Lego will be moderating the designs to prevent users from making inappropriate Minifigs, according to Jay’s Brick Blog .) There are some fun accessories you can pick from, too, like a laptop, a pretzel, and a pizza. Completed Minifigs will cost $11.99, though you can only buy one per household. Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge ... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/ewKbOMA

The gang’s all here. | Image: Nickelodeon The first animated movie from Avatar Studios, the team Nickelodeon set up to work on movies and shows in the Last Airbender universe, will feature Avatar Aang and his friends, according to an announcement made during San Diego Comic-Con ( via Gizmodo ). While there’s no word on casting or a story synopsis yet, some fans have expressed excitement over the possibility of getting to see Team Avatar — made up of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Suki, and, of course, Appa — in something new. According to Polygon , the show will focus on Team Avatar as young adults, giving us a look at some of the events that happen between The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra . There are, of course, a fair share of people who were hoping to see something f... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/Is5vaNW

If you haven’t updated your Apple Watch to the latest software version, then it’s high time you do that. If in case, you need help with it, here we have a guide for that. This is important as the CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) has found vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch that could leave it bare and open to threats like hacking, phishing, and data loss. CERT-In Wants You To Update Apple Watch: Here’s Why In a recent report, CERT-In, a Government of India department has discovered several vulnerabilities in the Apple Watch that could let bad actors execute arbitrary code, bypass the built-in security and take control of your data. It points to the issue with the “buffer overflow in the AppleAVD component; an authorization issue in the AppleMobileFileintegrity component; out-of-bounds write in Audio, ICU and WebKit component; type confusion in Multi-Touch component; Multiple out-of-bounds write and memory corruption in GPU Drivers component; out-of-bounds read in Ke

Sony has launched its all-new XR OLED A80K smart TV series in India. Launched under its Bravia lineup, the new TVs come with Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR. Sony has also revealed that the TVs will be available in multiple sizes. As per Sony, the Cognitive Processor XR is a powerful chip that will upscale content close to 4K even if it is not.  Apart from these, Sony's new A80K series will offer impressive features including HDMI 2.1 compatibility, support for 4K 120fps, variable refresh rate, Auto Low Latency Mode, Auto HDR Tone and Game Mode.  Additionally, there will also be support for features like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, 4K, and HDR. The TV also brings Sony's BRAVIA CORE, which lets users enjoy the largest collection of IMAX-enhanced movies with the highest quality Pure Stream at 80mbps on BRAVIA XR TVs.  Sony Bravia A80K TV Specs and Features The TVs also feature Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology, which Sony explains projects sound directly from the screen. For thi

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple has settled its lawsuit with Chicago over the city’s so-called “Netflix tax,” according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter . The tax placed a 9 percent levy on “amusements that are delivered electronically” — essentially targeting streaming services. The exact terms of the settlement weren’t made public. Though, Bloomberg Tax last year reported that revenues from the tax — widely thought to be the first of its kind — grew to over $30 million in the year ending June 30th, 2021. The decision has been a long time coming. Chicago introduced the new tax in 2015 as it attempted to make up for the lost revenue from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Apple filed its challenge in 2018, and was one of many groups and companies... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/yGs5D3h

A stock photo of a chess-playing robot in Shanghai — unconnected to this incident. | Photo by Gao Yuwen/VCG via Getty Images A chess robot broke the finger of a seven-year-old boy playing in a tournament in Russia, according to reports from local news outlets (seen via The Guardian ). The incident happened last week at the Moscow Chess Open, where the robot was hired to play competitors. Video of the incident (below) shows the machine is a standard industrial robot arm customized to move pieces on three chess boards simultaneously. “The robot broke the child’s finger. This, of course, is bad,” Sergey Lazarev, President of the Moscow Chess Federation, told Russian news agency TASS (translation via Google Translate). Said Lazarev: “The robot was rented by us, it has been exhibited in many places, for a long time, with specialists. Apparently, the operators... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/jv7EW2V

OnePlus 10T is launching on August 3 in India and ahead of it, we are getting juicy details about the phone in the form of official teasers, leaks, and rumors. The latest report from The Verge is that the phone won’t come with the signature OnePlus Alert Slider and a Hasselblad-branded camera setup. The company has also confirmed some of the OnePlus 10T specs and details too. So, let’s have a look.   OnePlus 10T Specs and Features Some of the details about the phone are confirmed like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, a 6.7-inch flat display, matte black or glossy green back, a 50MP primary camera with 10-bit color shooting mode, “improved HDR photography” and night photography mode. But as our headline reads, OnePlus has let go of the Hasselblad branding and the company’s excuse is that it “wanted to offer an ultimate performance flagship smartphone at the device’s chosen price point”. Coming to the other staple OnePlus feature, i.e., the alert slider or mute switch. T

A Long March 5B rocket with the Wentian module takes off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site. | Photo by Hou Yu/China News Service via Getty Images China successfully launched its second module, called Wentian, to the Tiangong space station early Sunday morning ( via SpaceNews ). Wentian took off aboard a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, China at 2:22AM ET (2:22PM local), docking at the Tiangong space station about 13 hours later at 3:13PM ET (3:13AM local). The Wentian module contains equipment that allows the Chinese astronauts, also known as taikonauts, to perform various scientific experiments during their time on the station. As noted by The New York Times , the additional module will also provide three extra spaces to sleep, as well as another airlock that crewmembers can use to conduct spacewalks. Watch this footage of #Wentian docking.... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/gJTO5q7

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk allegedly fractured an old friendship with Google co-founder Sergey Brin after having an affair with his wife, Nicole Shanahan, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . Sources familiar with the situation told the WSJ that the couple filed for divorce earlier this year, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Musk and Shanahan’s affair allegedly occurred at the high-profile Art Basel event in Miami following Musk’s split with then-girlfriend Claire Boucher, also known as Grimes. Sources tell the WSJ that Brin and Shanahan were separated but still living together at the time. The couple’s relationship was reportedly strained due to issues related to the COVID-19 lockdowns and their three-year-old daughter. Musk’s... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/nvFeR1c

The OnePlus 10T in green. | Image: OnePlus The OnePlus 10T isn’t due to launch until August 3rd , but it wouldn’t be a OnePlus phone if the company didn’t reveal a few details early. Today, we’re getting a look at the device’s exterior design, which reveals a couple of interesting (and, depending on your viewpoint, potentially disappointing) changes compared to its predecessor. Although the 10T’s overall design is similar to that of the OnePlus 10 Pro, there’s no alert / mute slider this time, nor is there any sign of the Hasselblad branded-camera system found on recent OnePlus flagships. The alert slider has been a staple of OnePlus’ flagship phones for years, offering a quick and easy way to put its phones into silent and vibrate modes without having to tap through any onscreen... Continue reading… from The Verge - All Posts https://ift.tt/xat2Xon