Bluesky is starting to feel like Twitter

Photo by Stefan Sauer / picture alliance via Getty Images Bluesky might be the Twitter-like we’ve been waiting for. Yes, I know it’s still invite-only. Yes, I know there are only thousands of people on the platform right now. Yes, I know that it’s still missing table-stakes features like video uploads and DMs. Still, I’m starting to feel that Bluesky is where it’s at. It happened over the last few days. Bluesky — the decentralized Twitter alternative spun up by Twitter itself — has suddenly filled up with tech media and other people I follow on Twitter. Over and over again, I would check Twitter for one thing or another and see somebody begging for a Bluesky invite, then just a little while later, that person would be in my Bluesky skyline (timeline) and skeeting (tweeting). While that means I… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/U6QtiHA via Grabey
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Mitsubishi wants to be the world’s carbon broker

Pedestrians walk past the front of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. headquarters office in Tokyo on Thursday, June 23rd, 2005. | Photo by Haruyoshi Yamaguchi / Bloomberg via Getty Images Mitsubishi wants to be the world’s biggest dealer of carbon removal credits. Keep in mind that the company has its hand in many of the most polluting industries out there — from producing cars to natural gas, coal, petrochemicals and plastics. And carbon credits have become a popular way for corporations to keep on polluting while claiming to fight climate change. This week, the company announced a joint venture to set up what it says is the world’s biggest portfolio of carbon removal credits. The credits represent tons of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere through a range of still contentious tactics for dealing with climate change. Carbon credits have become a popular way for corporations to keep on polluting while claiming to… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/DO1kP6d via Grabey
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Clubhouse is laying off more than half of its workforce

Image: Clubhouse Clubhouse, the app that sparked a wave of audio-only features, is laying off over 50 percent of its employees. The app’s co-founders, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, shared the news in a memo to employees, where they emphasize a need to “reset” the company in a post-covid era. “As the world has opened up post-Covid, it’s become harder for many people to find their friends on Clubhouse and to fit long conversations into their daily lives,” the founders write. “To find its role in the world, the product needs to evolve. This requires a period of change.” In their memo, Davison and Seth say they’ve been unable to make things work with the current size of Clubhouse’s team, noting that it’s “difficult” to “communicate the strategy to… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/lwp2kL3 via Grabey
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Amazon shuts down Halo division and discontinues all devices

RIP the Halo View. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Amazon has decided to shutter its health-focused Halo division, The Verge has learned. Amazon has stopped selling its three Halo products and plans to lay off portions of the Halo team. “We have made the difficult decision to wind down the Halo program, which will result in role reductions,” Melissa Cha, Amazon’s VP of smart home and health, told staffers in an email obtained by The Verge. “More recently, Halo has faced significant headwinds, including an increasingly crowded segment and an uncertain economic environment. Although our customers love many aspects of Halo, we must prioritize resources and maximize benefits to customers and the long-term health of the business.” Cha went on to write that all Halo hardware would be… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/CGrdebE via Grabey
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Netflix doubles down on K-dramas with a $2.5 billion investment

Squid Game was a monster hit for Netflix, so it’s not surprising the platform is looking to repeat that success. | Image: Netflix After a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol yesterday, Netflix announced it’s planning to invest $2.5 billion into “the creation of Korean series, films, and unscripted shows over the next four years” — which is a fancy way of saying Netflix is about to make a crapload of K-dramas. The amount is double what Netflix has invested in K-dramas since 2016 — and it’s no surprise given the monumental success of Squid Game as well as The Glory and Physical: 100. In a statement, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company had “great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories,” noting that Korean entertainment was “now at the heart of the global cultural zeitgeist.” As a second-generation… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/RGyAoNM via Grabey
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Rad Power Bikes links up with Redwood Materials for e-bike battery recycling

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge Rad Power Bikes is partnering with Redwood Materials, a battery company founded by a former Tesla executive, to recycle e-bike batteries when they reach the end of their lifespan. Customers will be able to bring in their depleted batteries to Rad Power Bikes’ retail locations, after which the company will send them to Redwood Materials for processing and recycling. (Rad currently operates 10 retail and service locations in North America.) Select Rad stores in California and Washington will also serve as drop-off locations for old smartphones, laptops, and tablets, for Redwood’s growing consumer e-waste collection program. It’s a noteworthy deal considering that Rad Power Bikes is the number one seller of electric bikes in North… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/VfpYdyJ via Grabey
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Twitter claims dead celebs are subscribing to Blue from beyond the grave

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge After chief twit Elon Musk made good on his promise to remove Twitter accounts’ legacy verification blue ticks last week, numerous high-profile accounts now appear to be re-verified — including a number of dead celebrities. It’s likely that the re-appearance of their blue ticks is part of a wider (but unannounced) scheme by Twitter to restore verification to users with over one million followers. But hover over the blue ticks of the accounts of dead celebs, and Twitter will tell you they’re verified “because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” Michael Jackson, Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, Barbara Walters, Anthony Bourdain, and Paul Walker are just a few of the many deceased stars to have regained… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/JKbRSM6 via Grabey
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Every gadget we’ve X-rayed with a Lumafield CT scanner

See inside a few of our favorite things — retro, modern, you name it. Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/ug5bsBF via Grabey
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Rivian R1S review: king of the mountain

The R1S is one of the most comprehensively well-designed and engineered vehicles ever. A trip to Big Bear in Rivian’s electric SUV showcases why it’s one of the most compelling vehicles on sale. As a first effort from a new automaker, it’s even more impressive. Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/9wWH1UN via Grabey
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To capture CO2 in the US, climate tech startups partner with oil and gas

Collector containers at the Orca direct air capture and storage facility, operated by Climeworks AG, in Hellisheidi, Iceland, on September 7th, 2021.  | Image: Arnaldur Halldorsson/Bloomberg via Getty Images Climeworks, the Swiss company that’s capturing CO2 emissions for Microsoft, Stripe, and Shopify, is crafting plans to expand across the US, which is becoming the destination for companies that want to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. “The US is a very interesting place, perhaps the most interesting place at the moment … from a market perspective, but also from a policy perspective,” says Christoph Beuttler, Climeworks’ chief climate policy officer. The Inflation Reduction Act more than tripled tax credits for direct air capture (DAC) and storage projects. And the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $12 billion for capturing and storing carbon dioxide. Together with other partners, Climeworks has applied for a slice… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/UToxpWj via Grabey
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The Game Awards anniversary concert will have music from Hades, Elden Ring, and more

Image: The Game Awards Geoff Keighley’s putting on a show. I don’t mean E3 killing Summer Game Fest but an actual music concert celebrating 10 years of The Game Awards. The announcement doesn’t include a Coachella-style lineup of acts like a typical concert announcement would; rather, it’s a listing of game music you’ll hear during the performance. There are 12 games that’ll be featured during the concert, including past game of the year winners like The Last of Us and a smattering of music from the most popular or most anticipated games to come, like Final Fantasy XVI and Starfield. You can also expect to hear the musical stylings of Hades, Elden Ring, and God of War, of course, but the concert also features music from gaming-adjacent media like the League of… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/QG5lKmM via Grabey
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Facebook owes us $725 million: here’s how to get your cut

Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge If you’re a US Facebook user who had an active account between May 24th, 2007, and December 22nd, 2022, you may be able to receive a portion of a multimillion-dollar class action settlement related to user privacy. Facebook parent company Meta agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a lawsuit accusing it of granting Cambridge Analytica and other third parties access to private user data, which a judge has tentatively approved. The tech giant also faced accusations it misled users about how much control they had over their private information. Meta, however, denies it did anything wrong. If you’d like to make a claim, you can do so online by August 25th, 2023. After answering a few questions, you’ll then be able to choose how you’d like to… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/BfUxFKp via Grabey
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Netflix is shutting down its original DVD business after 25 years

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Netflix, which started as a company that shipped DVDs by mail, is winding down its DVD business. It will ship its final discs from DVD.com on September 29th, the company announced on Tuesday. “After an incredible 25 year run, we’ve decided to wind down DVD.com later this year,” Netflix said in a blog post. “Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult.” After an incredible 25 year run, we’ve decided to wind down https://t.co/6h2lrcGg2b later this year. To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: Thank you! https://t.co/McxJUlLlGF pic.twitter.com/nBXzgvvv7p — Netflix… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/b2aqXFR via Grabey
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I just discovered my Roomba can be a security camera

You can now use the Roomba j7’s camera to check in on your home. Today, an alert popped up on my iRobot app telling me I could now use the j7 Combo robot vacuum to see a live view of my home, should I want to. A new beta feature called Remote Check In turns the company’s flagship robot vacuum into a livestreaming security camera. iRobot is playing catch-up here; lots of robot vacuum manufacturers have had the live view camera function for a while now (including Samsung’s JetBot AI and models from Roborock and Ecovacs). But I was intrigued to see how the Roomba would handle this new task. Part of the iRobot beta program (which you sign up for in the app), Remote Check In launched in a limited capacity in November 2022. Today, it became broadly available, according to Ryan Schneider of iRobot. Hence the… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/8D7RcSE via Grabey
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What’s it like to use a $300 Windows laptop for a day?

I spent many hours using HP’s 14, a $289 Windows laptop. You’re all welcome. Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/Hvh8wnd via Grabey
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Why I’m using a keyboard phone in 2023

For the past month, I’ve been using the Unihertz Titan Pocket, a phone released in 2021 that rocks a 3.1-inch display above a full Qwerty keyboard. To be clear, it’s been by choice — my editors didn’t assign me to do this as a prank (in fact, some of them have clowned on me for using it), and it’s not like I don’t have other options. I’ve got a perfectly good iPhone 12 Mini that I actively gave up to switch to this phone. So uh… why? The first reason is that it can just be kind of fun to try something new. Or, in this case, go back to something old; my first experiences with a smartphone were stealing my dad’s Navy-issued BlackBerry to email my significant other when I was in middle school. But for the past 10 years or so, the phones… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/t1UYsD9 via Grabey
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Instagram is adding TikTok-like Reels updates for editing and discovery

Image: Instagram Instagram announced a slew of new features for its TikTok competitor Reels today, including a new way to edit videos and find trending content. The biggest change is in the video editing process. Users will now be able to tweak uploaded video clips, audio, stickers, and text overlays all in the same screen instead of having to do it in separate steps. Stills shared by the company show a timeline editing feature similar to what TikTok has, which helps when lining up audio and video clips and makes transitions smoother. Instagram users will also have a new way to find trending videos. Trends and challenges that are easy to recreate are part of what made TikTok an incubator for viral content, and until now, there wasn’t a quick way to see… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/ChPkBec via Grabey
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Suicide Squad kills another release date

Rocksteady Studios You could be forgiven at this point for not believing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is ever coming out. Rocksteady Studios, of Batman: Arkham series fame, has delayed the game yet again. This is the second time the game has been delayed this year and the third overall, taking the release date from 2022 to May 26th, 2023, to some later date in 2023 to, now, February 2nd, 2024. Earlier this year, Suicide Squad was heavily featured in Sony’s February State of Play. It was the first time players had an up-close look at the gameplay, and they were… less than enthused. Turns out, an always online, live service shooter with a battle pass is just not what people want right now. Who’da thunk? According to the announcement, Rocksteady… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/RYFxQlg via Grabey
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Harry Potter is getting a 10-year-long TV series on Max

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery is officially working on a Harry Potter series for its new streaming service, Max. The series was recently rumored to be in development, and now we know that it’s officially on the way. In a press release, the company says it will be a “decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for.” The show will have a new cast playing the series’ iconic characters, and Warner Bros. Discovery promises that “each season will be authentic to the original books.” The original movies will still be “available to watch globally,” even with this new show in development. Author J.K. Rowling will be among the show’s executive producers. The author has been heavily criticized for her… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/hI3K2ug via Grabey
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Ford’s Oakville plant in Canada will start making EVs in 2024

Image: Ford Ford’s factory in Oakville, Ontario, will begin its $1.3 billion ($1.8 billion CAD) transformation into an electric vehicle assembly plant in the second quarter of 2024. The retooling is expected to take six months to finish, the automaker said Tuesday. During the process, an estimated 3,000 workers will be furloughed, according to Automotive News. Ford, however, says it expects to bring back virtually all the factory workers when the plant comes back online at the end of 2024. The factory, which currently produces gas-powered Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers, will be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex and will include a 407,000-square-foot battery assembly plant. The facility will use battery cells produced by Ford’s B… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/gFCzlup via Grabey
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Netflix is making a Stranger Things animated series

Image: Netflix Stranger Things is getting an animated spinoff. On Monday, Netflix announced that the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, are working on an animated Stranger Things series that will air on the streaming service. Netflix didn’t share much about the show — it didn’t even reveal any art — and didn’t say when the series might be released. But thanks to a quote from the Duffer brothers, you might be able to imagine what the Stranger Things series will look like: “We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling.” It’s disappointing that Netflix is revealing so little about this series, but the company is… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/azZFm8y via Grabey
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Hatch Restore 2 review: TikTok made me try it

Ironically, the app that usually convinces me to spend too much on junky products led me to the best piece of sleep tech I’ve tested in a while. Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/1T7SEj6 via Grabey
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Are Amazon Sidewalk’s privacy protocols ready for the real world?

The Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 is one of many Sidewalk bridges that can help extend connectivity beyond your home’s Wi-Fi. | Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge Last week, Amazon opened its Sidewalk protocol to third-party developers. Sidewalk is a large mesh network that draws on people’s home internet connections across the US. It’s a service that requires a lot of trust, and so far, most of the devices on it happen to be Amazon’s own products. But that’s about to change — and as a result, Sidewalk’s privacy safeguards are about to be tested at a much larger scale. No connected device is ever truly 100 percent private or secure. But so far, despite some initial concerns, Sidewalk has avoided any major privacy disasters. Here’s a rundown of how Sidewalk works, the risks it might pose to you as a user, and what we know about Amazon’s plans to defuse them. Are Amazon Sidewalk’s privacy protocols… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/rjp1O9w via Grabey
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How one Twitter account disappeared for a week — and why nobody knew how to fix it

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge (Disclosure right up front: SB Nation is part of Vox Media, and so is The Verge; we’re all co-workers and friends. I reported this story mostly by talking to my colleagues.) SB Nation’s Twitter account has a little over 300,000 followers. Or, at least, it did last Friday. Then, suddenly, it was gone, disappeared from the internet for almost a week. When you go to the profile page, the account was replaced by an ominous message: “This account doesn’t exist.” Nobody at SB Nation knew how to get it back — and for a while, nobody at Twitter did, either. Last Friday, an SB Nation employee tried to log in to the @sbnation account. They were doing so in order to follow @cutwaterspirits, the Twitter account for Cutwater, an adult beverage… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/1LXbKHh via Grabey
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How to upgrade your Android smartwatch to Wear OS 3

Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge The Wear OS 3 rollout hasn’t been the smoothest. It’s totally understandable if you decided to stick it out on Wear OS 2 until the dust settled. But last year was a good year for Android smartwatches, and there’s reason to believe that this momentum will carry forward. It’s time, my friends, to consider upgrading your older watch to Wear OS 3. At this point, the pros of Wear OS 3 are starting to outweigh the cons of its predecessor. The main reason to upgrade is third-party apps. Google’s put a lot of effort into luring back developers to the platform, and most big-name app developers (e.g., Strava, Telegram, etc.) are understandably prioritizing the new over the old. And while Google’s done a decent job to ensure its Wear OS 2 apps… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/Inj8itf via Grabey
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Google is trying to make sure apps let you delete your account

Illustration: The Verge Google is introducing a new Play Store rule that will require apps to have a “readily discoverable option” for deleting your account, both in the app itself and on the web. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company says the change is meant to give users “greater clarity and control over their in-app data.” The rule will apply to apps that let you create an account, and Google is trying to make sure that users won’t have to redownload an app because they deleted it before requesting that their account also be deleted. The company plans to add a field to the Google Play Store that will link users to the web address for account deletion. GIF: GoogleA mock-up of what the data deletion section of the Play Store may… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/CecSmXO via Grabey
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Call of Duty is the latest to detect and ban XIM cheaters

Image: Activision Activision is cracking down on third-party hardware cheating in Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Devices like XIM, Cronus Zen, and ReaSnow S1 have been widely used in Call of Duty to allow mouse and keyboard users to get the benefits of aim assist and reduced recoil from controller mixed with the benefits of movement from mouse and keyboard. Activision has now updated its Ricochet anti-cheat system to detect and eventually suspend or ban players using this third-party hardware. “These devices act as a passthrough for controllers on PC and console and, when used improperly or maliciously, can provide a player with the ability to gain an unfair gameplay advantage, such as reducing or eliminating recoil,” explains… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/GWHAh7B via Grabey
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Disney is already remaking Moana as a live-action film

Image: Disney Moana, which was first released in 2016, is already being adapted for a live-action film. Disney revealed the new project with a video featuring Dwayne Johnson, who plays Maui in the animated movie. “Like its animated predecessor, the film will celebrate the islands, communities and traditions of Pacific Islanders as seen through the eyes of a young woman eager to pave her own path,” Disney wrote in a press release. “Moana’s journey of self-discovery and reflection on the lives of her ancestors won hearts worldwide, as did her newfound friendship with an exiled demigod named Maui.” Disney didn’t say when the new film might be released. The new Moana will join Disney’s growing slate of live-action remakes, including The Lion King, Beauty… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/UXAjIKP via Grabey
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Super73 launches Adventure Series and first e-bike for danger babies

All Adventure Series e-bikes (like this RX) have the battery on the down tube for lower center of gravity and improved handling. | Image: Super73 California’s Super73 now offers more ruggedized models of its Super73 Z, S, and R series of e-bikes and a new K1D electric balance bike for kids — and parents stoked at the thought of putting their four- to eight-year-old on a vehicle that can go over 16mph. The so-called Adventure Series of e-bikes brings a refreshed design, suspension, gear box, seats, tires, and lights across Super73’s existing Z (entry-level commuter), S (multipurpose cruiser), and R (flagship power) e-bikes. All the electric bikes in the series feature front suspension, while some offer fully adjustable front and rear suspension. S and R models also had their battery moved to the down tube, which should improve handling thanks to a lower center of gravity. … Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/jRPvr6g via Grabey
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How to change the region on an HP OfficeJet printer in 57 easy steps (printer companies hate this!)

Why would you region-lock a printer? | Image: Hugo Herrera / The Verge A couple of weeks ago, Nilay wrote about the Brother laser printer everyone else has. It’s cheap, reliable, and the toner lasts a long time. Get a Brother laser printer, he said, and basically never think about your printer again. You know what part of Nilay’s post sounded really nice? This part right here: It has been connected to our Wi-Fi for like six years straight, and I have never replaced the toner. It prints Amazon return labels from my phone without complaining, and it does not feel like the CEO of Inkjet Supply and Hostage Situations Incorporated is waiting to mug me or enable DRM at the slightest provocation. I, on the other hand, spent a couple dozen hours between September 2021 and February 2022 trying to defeat the region… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/m47lnC9 via Grabey
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GM is cutting off access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its future EVs

The 2024 Chevy Blazer EV will be the first GM vehicle to restrict access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. | Image: GM General Motors’ electric future doesn’t include Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The automaker’s upcoming lineup of electric vehicles won’t support the popular smartphone projection systems in favor of a native Google infotainment system. The move, first reported by Reuters, means that owners won’t be able to project their phone’s screen on their vehicle’s dashboard infotainment display. The decision is intended to provide “seamless access” to the new Google-powered infotainment experience, including native versions of Google Maps, Google Assistant, Audible, Spotify, and more, GM says in a fact sheet explaining the new strategy. “As a result of this strategic approach, we will be moving beyond phone projection systems, namely Apple… Continue reading… from The Verge – All Posts https://ift.tt/MqmCiLQ via Grabey
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