Technology news

Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images Regal Cinemas, the second-largest theater chain in the country, will close all of its theaters in the US starting tomorrow, March 17th, out of caution for the ongoing spread of coronavirus, according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. The theaters will remain closed until further notice.“Any time, at any Regal, it’s our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees and guests,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of

Popular chat service Discord is currently experiencing widespread server outages, taking many communities offline. Discord says it’s “currently investigating an issue where a number of Discord servers are completely unavailable.”If you’re currently using Discord to chat or type with friends, family, or co-workers then you’re on an unaffected server, but don’t try to relaunch the app as many are reporting that it’s failing to load due to “server out

Popular chat service Discord experienced widespread server outages on Monday, taking many communities offline. During the outage, Discord said it was “investigating an issue where a number of Discord servers are completely unavailable.” Many reported that the app was failing to load due to “server outages and increased API errors.” The service’s status page now says that all systems are operational.
Discord’s outage happened just over an hour after the company

Photo by Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants the state to delay Tuesday’s presidential primary until June 2nd in an attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Columbus Dispatch reports. DeWine said the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on avoiding large gatherings would make it impossible to hold the election as scheduled.“It is clear that tomorrow’s in-person voting does not conform and

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Amazon is looking to hire 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers to meet increased demands for shipments as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the company announced on Monday. It will also increase the hourly pay of workers employed in these positions by an additional $2 in the United States through April.
As more Americans stay indoors to protect themselves from the coronavirus outbreak, they’re turning to e-commerce stores like Amazon

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Peloton knows people are stuck at home, so it’s now offering new subscribers a 90-day trial, rather than 30 days, to its app. The app doesn’t require people to own a Peloton-branded treadmill or bike to participate. People can try yoga, HIIT, stretching, strength training, and other classes.This news comes after an earlier email to members explained that live Peloton classes would still continue, although without public attendees. It has a

Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images California public health officials will be placing six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area— about 6.7 million people — under a “shelter in place” order to try to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Los Angeles Times reports.The order will go into effect at 12:01AM PT on Tuesday, March 17th, and it will include San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties, according to the San Francis

Microsoft revealed some key details about the next-gen Xbox Series X console today. Along with clock speeds, new technologies, and much more, the biggest news is that the next Xbox will support removable storage, thanks to 1TB expansion cards. Microsoft is using a special proprietary expansion card, and it has teamed up with Seagate to launch 1TB expansion cards for the Xbox Series X.
The cards simply slot into the rear of the console and are used as a quick way to extend the built-in 1TB NVME S

Universal Studios is planning to release some of its newest films that are still in the middle of their theatrical runs — including The Invisible Man, The Hunt, and Emma. on digital platforms to rent for $20 starting this Friday. Furthermore, the upcoming Trolls World Tour, which was set to release in theaters on April 10th, will now also be available to rent on demand the same day it hits theaters, via Deadline.The announcement comes after a historically poor weekend at the box office acr

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Apple is reportedly planning to launch a new 5.5-inch entry-level iPhone, according to evidence found in iOS 14 by 9to5Mac. It has been rumored for some time that Apple would soon release a new 4.7-inch LCD phone that reuses the iPhone 8 design with updated internals, but this is the first indication that Apple may release a “Plus” version — and given the apparent 5.5-inch screen size, this new phone will presumably reuse the iPhone 8 Plus&rs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge YouTube will rely more on AI to moderate videos during the coronavirus pandemic, since many of its human reviewers are being sent home to limit the spread of the virus. This means videos may be taken down from the site purely because they’re flagged by AI as potentially violating a policy, whereas the videos might normally get routed to a human reviewer to confirm that they should be taken down.
Human moderators usually work from specific offices th

Westworld built a reputation on being mysterious. This made the first season irresistible, the second incomprehensible, and the forthcoming third season... well, you might have some questions — including “Is it still confusing?” “Who is a robot again?” and “Wait, is that Marshawn Lynch?” These are excellent questions. Some of the answers are good; some of them less so.In its third season premiere, the show does very little to catch new viewers up to spee

Image: Moog As the coronavirus pandemic has shut down clubs, parties, and festivals around the world, there are heaps of musicians (and music lovers) now sitting at home trying to find ways to fill their time. In response, Moog and Korg have both made certain synth apps free for a limited time.
Moog’s Minimoog Model D iOS app is now free, and it cost $4.99 when it was introduced in 2018. It’s a faithful visual reproduction of the hardware version (which will set you back a few thous

The premium offering of Headspace, the mindfulness and guided meditation app, is now free for any health care provider who works in public health in the US through the end of the year. The reasoning? The novel coronavirus pandemic that has swept across the world has resulted in an overburdening of many health systems.That means health care professionals will be able to access a full library of guided mediations (with a new one arriving each day), along with sleep sounds and bedtime exercises, al

Tesla has officially started delivering the first Model Ys to customers in the US ahead of its original schedule, and despite the world becoming increasingly wrapped up in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic. The company tweeted a video Monday showing the small electric SUV going through the production process and being tested in different parts of the world, along with a link to the order page. A few of the first deliveries were also spotted over the weekend by some Tesla-focused YouTubers li

Image: Microsoft When Microsoft first revealed the Xbox Series X, a lot of people started comparing the console’s design to a fridge. Microsoft seems to understand the comparison, and today it’s assuring fans that although Series X may look like a fridge, it’s not nearly as big as one.Microsoft tweeted a picture comparing the dimensions of its upcoming gaming console to an actual refrigerator this morning. You can see why people would make fun of the console for looking like a

Expedition 63 crewmembers Chris Cassidy of NASA (left) and Anatoly Ivanishin (center) and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos (right)| Image: NASA As the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the US, NASA is still moving forward with many of its upcoming missions, including some launches that will send humans to the International Space Station in the near future. As of now, NASA does not foresee any changes being made to these missions, and there are already procedures in place to guarantee astronau

After less than 24 hours, the website Google’s sister company Verily launched to help people find coronavirus tests isn’t able to schedule more appointments. It was positioned as a small pilot for California’s Bay Area to begin with, instead of the expansive site the White House characterized it as, and that positioning has turned out to be very true.The site was at capacity on Monday morning, Wired’s Lauren Goode reported. We asked Verily how many people it allowed in, w

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple announced on Friday that all its retail stores outside China are closed until March 27th to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Now, the company has posted a new FAQ with information about updated return policies, repair instructions, and more (via 9to5Mac).One key thing to know is that most returns will now be accepted up to 14 days after the stores reopen. Apple normally only allows returns for up to 14 days after purchase, but s

We need to go hands-off in the age of coronavirus. That means touching fewer doors, elevators, and sign-in iPads. But once a building is using phone-based identity for security, there’s opportunities to speed up access to WIFI networks and printers, or personalize conference rooms and video call set-ups. Keyless office entry startup Proxy wants to deliver all of this while keeping your phone in your pocket.
“The door is just a starting point” Proxy co-founder and CEO Denis Mars

Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple might have a new iPad in the works, going off documents found this week in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, which contains filings required for devices sold in Russia and other countries. MacRumors reports that the filing doesn’t contain much info apart from the fact that the iPad will run iOS 13. We don’t know what model it’ll be or what features it’ll include.
In the past, these filings arrived only days ahead of a formal Apple

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter has removed several tweets by prominent accounts that made misleading claims about the novel coronavirus pandemic, as the company says it’s following a “zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and any other attempts to abuse our service at this critical juncture.”
A Twitter spokesperson says the platform removed three posts by David Clarke, who tweets under the handle @SheriffClarke, because the tweets violated its polic

GitHub, the developer repository owned by Microsoft, made a little deal of its own this morning when it bought JavaScript packaging vendor npm for an undisclosed amount.
As GitHubCEO Nat Friedman wrote in a blog post announcing the deal, npmis a big deal in the JavaScript community. The company is the commercial entity behind the Node package manager, the npm Registry and npm CLI.
“npm is a critical part of the JavaScript world. The work of the npm team over the last 10 years, and the cont

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Microsoft is planning to hold a digital press event on March 30th. While the software giant typically holds press events in the spring in New York City, the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic means the company will hold this even entirely online. Microsoft’s digital event will start at 8AM PT / 1PM ET on Monday, March 30th.​
We’re expecting to hear more about Microsoft’s future Office 365 plans, including some new apps and services

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Today, T-Mobile and Verizon shared pricing and availability for LG’s newest flagship, the LG V60 ThinQ 5G. LG first showed off the phone at the end of February, but only said at the time that the phone would be releasing in spring and that specific pricing and availability would be announced “soon.”The V60 ThinQ 5G will be available starting this Friday, March 20th, on T-Mobile for $799.99 or $899.99 with a case that gives the phone a second sc

illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge GDC is kicking off a week of streamed talks today. Following the conference’s cancellation, organizers announced last week that they would stream some talks via Twitch. The current schedule includes submissions from some, but not all, would-be speakers from the event.
After weeks of exhibitors pulling out due to coronavirus health and safety concerns, GDC organizers finally canceled the annual March event in San Francisco. Although the conference wa

Photo by George Rose/Getty Images California loses up to $1 billion in crops each year because of air pollution, according to new research that looked at trends from 1980 to 2015. Table grapes — the kind for snacking — were the most vulnerable among seven crops badly affected by smog, including: wine grapes, strawberries, walnuts, peaches, nectarines, and hay. The crops lost between 2 to 22 percent of their yields as a result of smog.The results show that dirty air comes at a signif

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge TikTok directed its moderators to prevent people with “ugly facial looks” or who shot videos in “slums” or “dilapidated housing” from having their posts promoted to its widely viewed “For You” section, according to The Intercept. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed to The Intercept that the policies had once been in place but said the guidelines were “an early blunt attempt at preventing bullying” th

Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images A rumor that President Trump is going to announce a mandatory two-week quarantine for the whole country is going viral, spreading primarily through text messages. “Please be advised. Within 48 to 72 hours the President will evoke what is called the Stafford Act,” it reads. “Stock up on whatever you guys need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything. Please forward to your network.”
The message, which is being forwarded t

Image: Harley-Davidson Android Auto is finally making it to the world of motorcycles a little over two years after Apple’s CarPlay started showing up on two-wheelers. Harley-Davidson recently announced Android Auto support on any of its bikes with the Boom Box GTS operating system, meaning basically all of the company’s bigger touring motorcycles.New touring bikes will come ready to work with Android Auto, while owners of existing and slightly older bikes with Boom Box GTS will eith

The image claims to show a Motorola Edge with a hole-punch selfie camera and a screen that curves round its edges. | Image: XDA Developers Photographs of Motorola’s unannounced Edge smartphone have leaked online, giving us a glimpse at the device’s curved 90Hz display and 3.5mm headphone jack. The images, which were published by XDA-Developers, appeared alongside details about the phone’s specs. These include a Snapdragon 765 processor and 4,500mAh battery. The Edge is expecte

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge Update 10:18AM ET, March 16th: Unfortunately, these went out of stock right as we published this post. We’ll keep an eye on Woot to see if more stock becomes available.
Sony’s WH-1000XM3 wireless, noise-canceling headphones usually cost $350, but at Woot, you can get them right now for just $230. These are new models, and they include a full one-year warranty through Sony. This is far below the usual $278 sale price that pops up occasionally. Woot

Huboo, the U.K. startup that operates a multi-channel fulfilment service for e-commerce businesses of varying sizes, has picked up an undisclosed amount of investment from Maersk Growth, the venture arm of Danish container logistics giant A.P. Moller – Maersk.
The funding is described as a bridge round designed to see Huboothrough to a future Series A. It follows the disclosure of £1 million in seed backing in September 2019 led by London venture capital firm Episode 1, alongside a n

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Uber expanded its previously announced policy on sick pay for drivers during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, drivers who test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus; are personally placed in quarantine or asked to self-isolate by public health officials; or have their Uber accounts suspended as the result of public health advice will be eligible for up to 14 days of paid sick leave, the company said on Sunday. Previously, only d