Technology news

Stephen Dubner speaking at On Air Fest | Alexa Hoyer This is an excerpt of an interview that took place at On Air Fest on March 1st between Freakonomics Radio host Stephen Dubner and Hot Pod reporter Ariel Shapiro. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Alright so, you know podcasting. You know economics. What do you make of this moment in the podcasting industry?
It really depends on what angle you’re coming at it from. The short version is that there was probably a l

Populous. | Image: EA There hasn’t been a lot of good news out of EA lately, but here’s some: the company just launched a bunch of classic games on Steam. The new (old) releases include nine games in total, spanning franchises like Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and SimCity.
Here’s the full list:Command & Conquer The Ultimate Collection
SimCity 3000 Unlimited
Populous
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods
Populous: The Beginning
Dungeon Keeper Gold
Dungeon Keeper 2
Sid Meier&

The new MacBook Airs are equipped with the M3 chip, which allows for CPU and GPU improvements. | Image: Apple There’s a new MacBook in town. Following months of rumors, Apple has announced a new pair of entry-level laptops, both equipped with Apple’s latest M3 chip. The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air will start shipping tomorrow, March 8th, but you can still preorder them today for $1,099 and $1,299, respectively.According to Apple, the M3-powered MacBook Airs are faster than their M2-e

Rivian took a page from Steve Jobs and had “one more thing” to show off during its R2 reveal event in California today. And it was a stunner.The Rivian R3 is a slightly shorter, sportier-looking electric SUV than the R2, and it will come in a performance variant badged as R3X. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said the R3 “takes the package of R2 platform [and] shrinks it.”
The R3 is “designed with even tighter dimensions–and at a lower price point–tha

Rivian took a page from Elon Musk and had “one more thing” to show off during its R2 reveal event in California today. And it was a stunner.The Rivian R3 is a slightly shorter, sportier-looking electric SUV than the R2, and it will come in a performance variant badged as R3X. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said the R3 “takes the package of R2 platform [and] shrinks it.”
The R3 is “designed with even tighter dimensions–and at a lower price point–than

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, arguably the best game in Nintendo’s iconic series, is down to just $39.99 through March 17th. | Image: Nintendo These days, it feels like every day is a recognized holiday of some sort, whether it be National Donut Day, National Dress Day, or some other made-up holiday designed to celebrate... well, something. And while March 10th — aka Mario Day — may not be formally recognized by the US government, it’s one of the ones we at The Verge look forward

On Thursday, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) officially goes into effect in the EU. The new antitrust law aims to take on Big Tech's stranglehold of certain markets and industries, forcing companies to open their core platforms to competition.However, on the DMA's very first day, Apple is in the hot seat. According to a new report by Reuters, EU regulators are looking into the latest battle between Apple and Fortnite developer Epic Games. Why are EU regulators targeting Apple?On Wednesday, Ep

Image: Blizzard Overwatch 2 has had a few collaborations since its launch. First there was the One Punch Man collaboration with the big-fisted hero Doomfist getting the highly appropriate Saitama skin. The next crossover was for the K-pop fans, with Overwatch’s prominent female heroes getting skins from the girl group Le Sserafim. But this latest collaboration, in my not so humble opinion, is the one best yet. 3... 2... 1... Let’s Jam.
On March 12th, Overwatch 2 is bringing Cowboy Be

When you open TikTok today, you might be faced with a pop-up message during your scroll."Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok," the pop-up reads. "Speak up now — before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience. Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO."The only button on

Rivian revealed its next electric vehicle, the R2, a more affordable SUV that the company is counting on having a much broader appeal than its stylish — and expensive — R1T trucks and R1S SUVs.The R2 won’t go into production until 2026, but when it does it will come with an estimated range of 330 miles, a 0–60mph time of three seconds, and a starting price of $45,000 — placing it slightly below the current average selling price for a new internal combustion vehicle

Pixar digs into the nitty gritty emotions of puberty in Inside Out 2, which introduces a whole new slate of emotions to Riley's (voiced by Kensington Tallman) mind.The film still reunites us with the emotions from the first film: Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), and Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira) are excited to continue helping Riley grow up. But wait, what's that on the horizon? Body changes, teenage horm

Stigmergy is a mechanism of indirect coordination, in which individuals can influence their peers by changing their environment. For example, some ant species lay pheromone trails to navigate between food sources and nests. Researchers used these robots to conduct a study to see if stigmergy-based behavior can be produced via automatic design. The results show collective behaviors designed automatically can be just as good, if not better than those produced manually.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Apple won’t let your iPhone update software installed by third-party app stores if you leave the European Union for more than 30 days. In an update to its support page on Thursday, Apple says you can continue using apps from alternative marketplaces while traveling for long periods — but you’ll need to come back to the EU to get the latest version.
Shortly after the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) went into effect on Wednesday, users no

Here's a very 2024 sentence: Jake Paul, the controversial and popular YouTuber, is going to fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Netflix. The violent publicity stunt will take place in AT&T stadium — aka Jerry World, the home of the Dallas Cowboys — in Arlington, Texas on July 20. The fight will certainly be a huge spectacle. Paul is wildly popular, especially with the younger generation. Tyson, despite being 57 years old, remains a household name and, during his prime

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Image: The Verge Apple’s plans to comply with the European Union’s new rules governing big tech have already gotten off to an interesting start, and not just because Apple pulled Epic Games’ developer license. Apple made last-minute tweaks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) compliance plan to add flexibility, but they’ve met mixed reactions among developers.
Developers considering Apple’s post-DMA fee structure, which comes with a new “Core Technology Fee,&rdquo

The EU’s strictest-ever crackdown on big tech has only just begun, but critics fear it’s already missing the targets. Called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the landmark law aims to curb the power of tech giants. Under the rules, the EU can designate companies that dominate a marketplace as “gatekeepers.” This forces them to make their services open to competitors.  Whatsapp, for instance, has to become interoperable with third-party messaging services. Mobile operat

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SEC Chair Gary Gensler attends a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the U.S. Department of Treasury on December 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. | Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images A landmark climate disclosure rule adopted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday is already facing mounting legal and legislative challenges. Ten states filed suit yesterday shortly after the rule was finalized. Environmental advocates also say they’re considering challeng

If you're looking to trade in an older Apple device, there's a good chance you'll get more for it today than you would've yesterday. The first week of March has seen the trade-in values for Apple's Mac lineup, as well as its iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch lineups rise and fall. The MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and Apple Watch SE 1 trade-in values climbed, for example, while trade-in values slightly dropped for the entry-level iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.What are

Apple’s latest flagship iPhones, the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple is preparing to allow EU-based iPhone users to uninstall its first-party Safari browser by the end of 2024 and is working on a more “user-friendly” way of transferring data “from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone” by fall 2025. That’s according to a new compliance document published by the company, which outlines all the ways it’s complying with the Europea

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge As support grows for a bill in Congress that would effectively ban TikTok in the US, the video platform is trying to rally support among a key group: its own users.
TikTok sent users in the US a push notification on Wednesday, warning that “Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok” that would “[strip] 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.” The page says that a ban would “damage millions of

UPDATE: March 7, 2024, 11:05 a.m. EST The Xbox Series X Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Special Edition Bundle ($699.99), which included a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed console, sold out in under two minutes after it went live on the Best Buy app. Chances of a restock are virtually nil, but we'll keep you posted if that changes. Our original story follows. Quick links:The dropXbox Series X 'Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2' Special Edition Bundle$699.99 on the Best Buy app Sold OutThe downloadBest Buy a

Microsoft announced that it is hosting a late March event that will delve into new developments with Copilot, Windows, and the Surface laptop family.Zooming in on consumer laptops, Microsoft is reportedly planning on unleashing two models: the Surface Pro 10 and the Surface Laptop 6.When is the Microsoft March Surface event?Microsoft's March Surface event is on March 21.As mentioned, Microsoft is expected to drop new Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 models. According to Windows Central, the f

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Reddit has introduced an AI-powered safety filter that will help sift out posts that contain harassing or other objectionable content. The "harassment filter" — quietly added to the platform's support page last week and detected by Android Authority — uses a Large Language Model (LLM) "trained on moderator actions and content removed by Reddit’s internal tools and enforcement teams," Reddit explains. The tool intends to support the already tenuous work of reddit moderators task

Image: Rivian Rivian is pulling the cover off its latest electric vehicle today, and unless you live anywhere near Laguna Beach, California, you’ll probably be watching the livestream.The event starts at 10AM PT/ 1PM ET. According to details that leaked from the Laguna Beach City Council, the company plans to hold the event in the park adjacent to the former South Coast Theater, now named the Rivian South Coast Theater, which serves as the company’s “first flagship retail locat

The final trailer for 3 Body Problem, Netflix's anticipated adaptation of Liu Cixin's novel is here, and it's filled with intense conversations about consciousness expanding across worlds and the very real possibility of war — but with whom? And from where?In the trailer, Benedict Wong's detective Da Shi speaks to his boss, Wade (Liam Cunningham), of a sequence detected in 1977 called "the wow signal." Meanwhile, an ominous moment has physicist Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao) telling her friend

Firefighters battle flames from the Smokehouse Creek fire on March 03, 2024 near Sanford, Texas.  | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images Electric utility Xcel Energy admits that its equipment likely helped ignite the devastating Smokehouse Creek Fire that’s blazed across Texas since last week.
“Xcel Energy has been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires and has been conducting its own review. Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that it

Zip up your jumpsuits and chug some Nuka-Cola, because a new trailer for Prime Video's Fallout series has just dropped.Adapted from Bethesda's best-selling video games, and produced by Westworld's Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, Fallout launches us into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. 200 years before the show, a nuclear war wiped out civilization. Some survivors were able to hunker down in luxury underground vaults. Among these Vault-dwellers is Lucy (Yellowjackets' Ella Purnell), an optimist on a m

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Discord says it will sell official game-themed items in its store soon. Discord launched its in-app store in November with avatar decorations and profile effects available for anyone willing to buy them. Anime and fantasy effects have proved popular, so now, Discord is partnering with game developers to create game-themed versions.
“We’ve heard a lot of feedback on the kinds of decorations that you’d like to see, including cosmetics themed