~theverge | Bookmarks (628)

TikTok is back in a Washington, DC courthouse discussing the US law that - at least on paper - effectively banned the app. But this time, it's serving as a witness for the government, not fighting against it. On Wednesday, TikTok's head of operations and trust and safety Adam Presser testified in the Federal Trade […]

The Nintendo Switch just got a new update that adds Virtual Game Cards as a way to share digital games with other people. But the update also closes a loophole that would let you play shared games online at the same time as somebody you were sharing the game with, as reported by Eurogamer. Before […]

YouTube has announced a new experimental feature that’s “aimed at providing safer search experiences for all users.” The service will begin blurring the thumbnails in search results for some queries “that frequently include sexual themes.” According to a recent update in the Community section of YouTube’s Help Center website, the feature is currently being rolled […]

Duolingo is “more than doubling” the number of courses it has available, a feat it says was only possible because it used generative AI to help create them in “less than a year.” The company said today that it’s launching 148 new language courses. “This launch makes Duolingo’s seven most popular non-English languages – Spanish, […]

Kia is opening up preorders in the UK for its PV5 Passenger electric van at a starting price of £32,995, or about $44,000 with a standard range battery. Kia says preorders will open up tomorrow, May 1st, with initial deliveries in the UK planned for “late 2025.” It will come in a five-seat configuration (seven […]

The Google Play Store shed 1.8 million apps since the beginning of last year, according to an analysis from Appfigures and reported earlier by TechCrunch. That makes up around 47 percent of the 3.4 million apps it started 2024 with — a decline that Google spokesperson Dan Jackson says reflects the company’s focus on “delivering […]

It’s always a good time to lock in for a marathon watch of Alfred Hitchcock films, and Netflix is getting ready to make a bunch of the legendary director’s features a lot easier to watch in one place. Today, Netflix announced that it plans to stream a number of Hitchcock’s films next month as part […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a new plan to address “forever chemicals” once widely used in non-stick and water-proof products that have since been linked to cancer, reproductive health issues, and liver damage. The vague details the EPA has shared so far, however, have health and environmental advocates wondering whether the EPA’s plan helps […]

OpenAI is rolling back its latest GPT-4o update after CEO Sam Altman said the company would be making fixes to address the chatbot’s “sycophant-y and annoying” personality introduced with recent updates. The rollback, which started Monday night, is “now 100%” rolled back for free ChatGPT users and will be rolled back for paid users “hopefully […]

Snap is backing away from plans to simplify the design of Snapchat as it reports losing 1 million users in North America. As part of its Q1 2025 earnings report on Tuesday, Snap revealed that it’s instead going to start testing a “refined” layout that keeps the app’s five existing tabs. The company first started […]

Apple has quietly launched a new website called “‎Snapshot on Apple” that presents viewers with a carousel of celebrities and information on where you can find their work across the company’s services. The website, spotted by 9to5Mac reports, presents two slowly moving rows of celebrity images, with no way to manually scroll or search them. […]

Since Slate Auto came out of stealth mode last week, the internet has been abuzz with speculation about the finer details of the ultra-barebones electric Truck, which is set to cost just $20,000 when it enters production next year - assuming our federal EV incentives are still in place by then. One of those questions […]

Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne has a new project in the works that seemed poised to become a case study in the debate about how and whether Hollywood should be using generative AI. Lyonne is teaming up with technologist and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier to produce a new sci-fi film that will feature elements generated […]

Last week, the US Department of Transportation announced a major change to the Biden-era rule that requires automakers and tech companies to report crashes that involve fully or partially autonomous vehicles. Under the revised rules, companies will no longer have to report certain crashes, such as those involving a vehicle equipped with a Level 2 […]

Amazon’s annual Gaming Week sale might be the big focus this week as far as deals are concerned, but gaming peripherals and games aren’t the only discounts we’re seeing. Right now, for instance, Apple’s latest AirPods Pro with USB-C are on sale for $169 ($80 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy, which is just […]

Isuzu has started mass production of an all-electric version of its midsized D-Max pickup truck in Thailand, featuring a dual-motor four-wheel-drive system with 140kW of power that can “match the performance of existing diesel models,” according to the automaker. As reported by Electrek, the new D-Max EV matches the towing capacity of Isuzu’s current diesel […]

A group of people sued Nike this week over its decision to wind down its virtual show project RTFKT last year. The buyers of the digital assets accuse Nike of causing “the rug to be pulled out from under them,” and say they wouldn’t have bought its NFTs if they’d known they were “unregistered securities,” […]

The OnePlus 13R is a particular kind of midrange phone for a particular kind of person. It's a pared-down version of the OnePlus 13 - which is a full-on flagship and a good one at that. And even though it shares a lot of the flagship DNA, the 13R lacks peace-of-mind features present on the […]

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has flashy, thrilling battles, but the best thing about them is how you can twist the game's many systems to your advantage. The turn-based RPG combat might feel familiar, but it offers a lot of ways to customize your approach to battles so that you can do absolutely devastating amounts of […]

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 80, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you had better luck than I did preordering a Switch 2, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about The […]

It's been a busy week for Alien: Earth's marketing team, having released three new teasers over the last few days. The longest of them - titled "Gestation Complete" - spends two whole minutes on the gestation and birth of an alien creature. Another, "Crate," gives hints that Earth could be facing more than just a […]

Following a brief delay stemming from the Trump administration’s on-again, off-again tariff policy, Nintendo officially opened up preorders for the Nintendo Switch 2. As expected, the initial rollout process at Walmart, Best Buy, and other retailers on April 24th was an absolute mess — and GameStop didn’t fare much better later in the week. As […]

One of the most frustrating realities about modern technology products is that while so many of them can get exciting new features via the internet, they can lose them just as easily. That happened to owners of Nixplay smart digital photo frames this week when they were hit with a previously announced update the company […]

One of the Apple Intelligence features that hasn't been delayed is Visual Intelligence, which uses your iPhone's camera to identify and answer questions on whatever's around you in the world. It lets you snap a pizza restaurant storefront and find out its opening hours, for example, or point your camera at a plant and find […]