Technology news

Kyte wants to bring rental cars to users. 
That means no parking lots with special access instructions, lines at rental car agencies, or even reserved spots on the street. A contract worker — dubbed a "Surfer" — drops the car off at your location, and then it's up to them to get home or wherever they're off to next. 
They can take the bus, walk, or pack a scooter in the trunk and ride away, although the company doesn't provide them. 
The idea is to deliver unused cars

Hulu was a launch partner for Google’s Android-based Daydream VR platform in 2016. But as Variety noted today, the streaming service no longer supports Daydream. Hulu’s website states that support was dropped in a July update, although people with older versions of the app can still access the VR experience.
This is part of a long decline for the Daydream platform. HBO, another early partner, dropped support in January. Google Play Movies & TV also stopped supporting Daydream in

Let me be the first to say that falling asleep is a process. Maybe Ikea can help.
Insomniacs have tried it all: herbal teas, blue light filters, melatonin pills, cutting back on caffeine. But few things really help an insomniac fall asleep like boredom. 
Ikea launched a 14-day-long livestream on YouTube to celebrate its Festival of Sleep, a 12-day campaign to help Australians sleep better. The livestream is a spin-off of the Ikea Sleep Podcast, a series of narrated furniture catalogs. Dubbe

Getty J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot Productions have signed a deal with AT&T-owned WarnerMedia, the company announced today. The deal is reportedly worth $250 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The partnership means that Bad Robot will produce original series and films for WarnerMedia and its various divisions, including HBO and Warner Bros. Pictures. It also marks the first time that Bad Robot’s video games and digital divisions will also operate under o

Student ID photos might not seem like a very important part of the high school experience, but for seniors at North Farmington High School in Michigan, they're everything.
The school has an annual tradition of allowing students to dress up to have their student ID photos taken — not in formal attire like you might think, but in creative costumes.
Many students take the student ID photo shoot as an opportunity to honor some of their favorite pop culture characters, memes, and more.
Jordan P

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Spotify is cracking down on family plan sharing — again. According to a new set of terms and conditions for the plan that the company published back in August, Spotify is now requiring the primary account holder and everyone else on the plan to show proof that they reside at the same address, which it will now confirm from “time to time” by asking users to verify their addresses, as spotted by CNET.This isn’t the first time that Sp

Everything you assume about the universe, the laws that govern it, and how objective reality works is probably wrong. What goes up doesn’t have to come down, there’s no logical reason why we can’t travel through time, and there’s a pretty good chance that you exist as one of an infinite number of doppelgangers spread across parallel universes. That’s not stoner logic or the use of science fiction as a proxy for real science – those are actually just a few fai

There's a good reason why plenty of users have sworn off riding Uber Pool — the people.
If you've ever needed a quick cab on a budget, you know how clutch Uber Pool can be. But pooling in a packed car with thrifty strangers can lead to some pretty unique circumstances and memorable stories. Whether it's the driver or the passengers, someone (or everyone) is bound to make your next Uber Pool ride unforgettable.
1. Elizabeth cityOne time I got into a very full Uber Pool and halfway through t

The Verge Mozilla is trying to shame YouTube into doing more to fix its numerous recommendation algorithm issues, many of which can lead users down dangerous content spirals.With a new social media campaign called #YouTubeRegrets, Mozilla is asking people to submit their own experiences of falling down the recommendation rabbit hole, and discuss how they got from point A to point B. Everything is done through a Google Doc, which includes a little more information about the project.
“Once,

Controversial YouTube megastar PewDiePie has announced he's canceling plans to donate $50,000 to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) due to fan backlash.
The YouTuber had first announced the donation in a video posted on Tuesday. However, in a video posted just two days later on Thursday, the prominent YouTube Creator backtracked.
“I made the mistake of picking a charity that I was advised to instead of picking a charity that I’m personally passionate about,” he said, also claimin

Sept. 13 is the big day: It's time for Apple pre-orders to start kicking in. 
If you’re at all interested in the next generation of iPhones, Apple Watches, and more, you most likely caught wind of the tech giant’s big unveiling of their newest in smart tech on Sept. 11, (most notably the iPhone 11 and Apple Watch Series 5). 
If you’re chomping at the bit to get your hands on any of these devices (we already have our credit cards out, too), you should probably secure y

Tamir Kalifa for The Washington Post via Getty Images Cody Wilson, former head of 3D-printed gun company Defense Distributed, has been sentenced to seven years of probation in a plea deal over sexually assaulting an underage girl. The Associated Press reported today that Wilson will register as a sex offender and serve 475 hours of community service. He also won’t be able to own a gun while on probation, and he will pay a $1,200 fine and $4,840 in restitution to the victim.
Wilson was ori

Fitbit‘s latest fitness tracker/smartwatch, the Versa 2, was introduced a couple of weeks ago, but the company did not provide a firm release date at the time. Now we know: the Versa 2 will be available this Sunday, September 15. Pre-orders are already open. Compared to the already-good Versa and Versa Lite, the Versa 2 brings Alexa support, an always-on OLED display, and a slightly tweaked design. I’m not sure why people would want Alexa on their smartphone that already includes th

Image: Apple Apple continues to sweeten the deal for Apple Card owners with new cash back incentives. The latest company to join in is Walgreens, which now offers 3 percent toward Apple’s Daily Cash on purchases made in its stores (or Duane Reade stores, which it owns) instead of the usual2 percent, via 9to5Mac.Walgreens joins Uber and Uber Eats, which also added a 3 percent offer for the Apple Card alongside the credit card’s launch in August. The Apple Card usually offers 1 percen

Photo: Charger Lab Gallium nitride (GaN) chargers have been hitting the market at a rapid pace since the first batch came out earlier this year: we started with smaller 30W and 45W, before bumping that up to tiny 60W bricks, and double USB-C chargers that are smaller than traditional single plug bricks. And now, accessory company Baseus is taking that trend even further, with a GaN-based charger that features two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, but still is small enough to fit in the palm of your

Nintendo today finally revealed what the heck that ring peripheral it teased last week is all about. Namely, the company’s releasing its Switch version of the Wii Fit, an exercise game called Ring Fit Adventure, which turns that bizarre rubber ring into a whole-body sensor. As most people could probably have guessed from the teaser video, the purpose of this new peripheral is fitness. That’s not a surprise — in fact, I’d wager it’s a surprise to some it’

It’s that time of year: every other gadget company seems to have new hardware on the way. Samsung and Apple have already had their events, and Microsft has one October 2nd. Today, Amazon sent out invites for a hardware event taking place on September 25th. The company isn’t saying what it’ll announce, but it’s previously used the season to introduce new products in the Echo and Fire TV family. Granted, the Amazon already announced some new Fire TV products at IFA ea

Voyage CEO Oliver Cameron isn’t in any hurry to conquer self-driving cars. The former Udacity vice president for engineering oversees a fleet of low-speed autonomous vehicles providing trips to residents of two retirement communities. His vehicles aren’t fully driverless; they include safety drivers. He’ll remove them when he’s ready. And Cameron’s not interested in tackling complex urban environments or fast-moving highways where split-second decisions can mean lif

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Fall tech announcement season is here, and Amazon is the next up to bat: the company just announced its next big hardware event for September 25th.Details are slim, with the company only promising that it’ll “share some new things from the Amazon Devices and Services team,” but if past years are any indication, expect a whole pile of Amazon Echo and Amazon Fire TV-related hardware announcements — along with a possible surprise or t

Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg is pulling his $50,000 pledge to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) after his initial announcement drew backlash from parts of his fan base.
In a video uploaded today, Kjellberg said that he didn’t know much about the ADL when he made the pledge. It was only after uploading the video and seeing feedback about the organization that he admitted he “didn’t know a lot of things that surfaced throughout this whole thing about the charity.”