Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube is taking a page out of the TikTok playbook by adding “jewels” you buy to exchange for gifts for your favorite creators during livestreams. The feature, announced in September’s Made on YouTube event, is rolling out in the US over the next few weeks for eligible creators … Read more
Image: Nick Barclay / The Verge Disney made money off its streaming business for the second time in a row. During Q4 2024, profit from Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus soared to $321 million, up from $47 million last quarter. During an earnings call on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said around 60 percent … Read more
Image: Amazon Amazon is today introducing its latest Fire TV Omni TV series, and it’s the first to feature Mini LED backlighting for improved contrast, less blooming, and greater brightness than past models. The “Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series” features up to 1,344 dimming zones (depending on screen size) and delivers up to 1,400 nits … Read more
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Wordle’s success has caused an explosion in newspaper-style puzzle games, and now Words With Friends is getting in on the action. The long-running word game is adding four solo modes that can be played daily, and they’ll sound familiar to those who use The New York Times’ … Read more
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple is facing a £3 billion (about $3.75 billion) lawsuit from a consumer group that alleges the iPhone maker violated UK competition law by “forcing” customers to use its iCloud service. In its press release, UK consumer watchdog Which? says that Apple gave its iCloud storage service preferential treatment … Read more
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Once known only for its self-destructing pics, in recent years Snapchat has sneakily evolved into a location-oriented social media app. It’s now leaning further than ever into that identity with a new real-time location sharing feature that allows family members to share their live locations with each other. … Read more
In the AI chatbot world, ubiquity is everything. Companies have raced to build desktop and mobile apps for their bots, in order to both give them new capabilities but also to make sure they’re right in front of your face as often as possible. There’s no better example of that than Google’s new Gemini app … Read more
The Verge Google has added some new travel and shopping features to Maps that aim to make it easier to find local products and stay on time during busy periods. Starting today, Maps now allows users to search for items like home goods, clothing, and electronics, and find stores nearby that sell them — a … Read more
PayPal is making it easier to collectively pool together funds on the platform. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images PayPal is introducing a new money-pooling feature that aims to make it easier to collect and pay for things as a group. The feature is free and allows PayPal users to create a … Read more
Apple Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 with Quantec Room Simulator | Image: Apple Apple today announced some minor updates to Logic Pro for both the Mac and the iPad, including the ability to search for plug-ins and sources and the addition of more analog-simulating sounds. In Logic Pro for Mac 11.1 and Logic Pro for … Read more
It’s been 25 years since the first Final Cut Pro was announced. More than a decade after the launch of Final Cut Pro X, Apple’s video editing software is taking a step forward. The app is now being updated to Final Cut Pro 11, after dropping the number in its name for the past few … Read more
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images OpenAI is preparing to release an autonomous AI agent that can control computers and perform tasks independently, code-named “Operator.” The company plans to debut it as a research preview and developer tool in January, according to Bloomberg. This move intensifies the competition among … Read more
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Sonos is still trying to climb out from the hole it dug itself earlier this year by recklessly shipping an overhauled mobile app well before the software was actually ready. Today, just a couple weeks after the release of its latest hardware products — the Arc Ultra and Sub … Read more
Google versus the bad guys. | Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Google is beefing up its malware detection with new protections designed to suss out ever-sneakier bad actors. Android’s Google Play Protect service is getting an update called live threat detection which seeks out potentially harmful apps on your phone by analyzing app behavior … Read more
Image: The Verge The Wall Street Journal is experimenting with AI-generated article summaries that appear at the top of its news stories. The summaries appear as a “Key Points” box with bullets summarizing the piece. The Verge spotted the test on a story about Trump’s plans for the Department of Education, and the Journal confirmed … Read more
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images If you want to preserve the existing version of Lil Jon’s “Get Low” in your brain, maybe don’t listen to this cover T-Pain made with Mark Zuckerberg — excuse me, Z-Pain. Their version transforms the “Get Low” I got down to at all my school dances into … Read more
PC game platform GOG has launched a new preservation program dedicated to keeping beloved older games playable, “now and in the future.” “If a game is part of the Preservation Program, it means that we commit our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems,” the announcement blog reads. The program is … Read more
Image: Reliant General Motors is teaming up with Reliant Energy to offer free nighttime charging to some Chevy electric vehicle owners in Texas. Chevy owners who enroll in Reliant’s EV charging plan will receive free nighttime charging through monthly bill credits that offset charges incurred between 11PM. and 6AM, the companies said. Customers must also … Read more
Cath Virginia / The Verge Spotify is going all in on video. The company will soon begin paying creators based on how much engagement their videos receive from paid subscribers. Automated ad breaks in videos will also be turned off for paid Spotify subscribers to encourage more consumption. Both of these changes go into effect … Read more
Blizzard just released Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest, which collects remasters of realtime strategy classics Warcraft I and II, as well as a 2.0 update for Warcraft III: Reforged. The company announced the collection, which is $39.99 on Battle.net, during today’s Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct livestream. The first two games have been updated much the same … Read more
Image: The Verge Meta could bring ads to Threads as soon as next year, according to a report from The Information. As part of its plan, Threads will reportedly allow a small number of advertisers to make and publish ads in January. That tracks with what my colleague Alex Heath reported about the rollout of … Read more
Image: Meta The YouTube app on Meta Quest is getting a nice upgrade: instead of only being a way to watch videos by yourself, the app will now let you co-watch videos with up to seven other people. To turn on the feature, which is launching in beta, make sure you have the latest version … Read more
Vogtle, a nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. | Photo: Getty Images The US has a new roadmap for massively ramping up how much electricity it gets from nuclear reactors. The Biden administration released the document on Tuesday, but with President-elect Donald Trump heading back into the White House, there’s no … Read more
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta must face the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit that accuses the company of dominating the social media industry through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, a DC District Court Judge ruled on Wednesday. The FTC filed a lawsuit against Meta in 2020, alleging the company bought up … Read more
The Lightfoot scooter’s 120W solar panels can extend its range by up to 20 miles in the Summer, its creators claim. | Image: Otherlab Otherlab has announced a new electric scooter called the Lightfoot that can extend its range not by fast charging or quick battery swaps, but by soaking up the sun. The scooter is … Read more
Image: Amazon Amazon has launched a store where every product costs $20 or less in a bid to take on popular low-cost shopping apps like Temu and Shein. The new “Amazon Haul” service is available in the US via Amazon’s app or mobile website, and offers a wide range of similar fashion, home, lifestyle, and … Read more
Image: Bethesda Softworks The members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, one of the largest video game unions in the United States, have gone on strike. The action involves workers in ZeniMax offices in Texas and Maryland, who do quality assurance work for games including Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Workers are striking over claims that ZeniMax leadership … Read more
Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images The password manager NordPass has once again released its annual list of the world’s most popular passwords — and the lack of creativity is just a little disheartening. For the second year in a row, “123456” has been crowned the most common password. The same … Read more
Sony designed its flagship headset to pair perfectly with a PlayStation household. | Image: Sony It’s inordinately rare to find the PlayStation Pulse Elite on sale, but Black Friday season is always a good opportunity for retailers to break the rules. Sony’s flagship wireless headset is discounted to $129.99 ($20 off) at Walmart right now … Read more
Image: Apple The first season of Silo ended on a truly great cliffhanger. The Apple TV Plus series, an adaptation of Hugh Howey’s trilogy of postapocalyptic novels, tells the story of the remnants of humanity, who live deep underground in silos designed to protect them from a poisoned planet. Season 1 had the feeling of … Read more