Technology news

The new 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller includes Bluetooth, USB-C, and 2.4GHz connectivity. | Image: 8BitDo 8BitDo announced its latest budget-minded wireless controller today, the Ultimate 2C. For $29.99, it includes features like an extra pair of shoulder buttons to satisfy most PC and Android gamers, Hall effect sticks and triggers to keep problems like the Switch’s notorious “Joy-Con drift” at bay, and three different ways to connect it to a gaming machine with USB-C

Volkswagen is investing $1 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform. An additional $4 billion could be invested in Rivian, for a total sum of $5 billion.The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026. The R2 is expected to be a more affo

Volkswagen is investing $5 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform.
The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026.This is exciting! Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume and I are thrilled to announce the formation of a joint venture betwe

Volkswagen is investing $5 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform.
The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026. The R2 is expected to be a more affordable $45,000 model than its current luxury-priced EVs, the R1T and R1S.This is exc

The Lifx ceiling light features full-color, tunable white light and an array of effects to light up your home. | Image: Lifx Smart light fixtures are quickly becoming a thing, making it a little easier to add colorful, fun, and useful lighting effects to more areas of your home than you traditionally can with smart light bulbs. While these types of fixtures have been quite pricey, smart lighting company Lifx just announced its new Super Color Ceiling Light starting at just $89.97.
The full-color

An Android phone minus the phone plus two giant cameras. | Image: Adi Robertson / The Verge Xreal is one of the few companies trying to sell mass-market augmented reality headsets without an existing big tech empire. But its latest product isn’t a pair of glasses; it’s a phone-sized Android tablet designed to keep you using them. At last week’s Augmented World Expo (AWE) the company announced the Beam Pro, a combination battery, app repository, and 3D video recorder. It’s

Photo by Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres / Getty Images Guy Beahm, better known by his streamer persona Dr Disrespect, said he was banned from Twitch four years ago due to private messages he sent to a minor that “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”
Beahm shared details of the ban in a lengthy post to X, marking the first time he’s directly addressed the reason for his removal.
“Everyone has been wanting to know why I was banned from Twitch,

Image: Jon Porter / The Verge With RGB lighting and customizability, most mechanical keyboards are way more fun to type on than your regular old keyboard. Those perks typically come at a cost, though — but not as much today because Epomaker’s TH80 Pro is on sale at Amazon for $62.99 ($27 off). That’s a new all-time low price on the TH80 Pro and is available on keyboards with Gateron switches in select colors — including black, red, and yellow — as well as with Budge

Illustration: The Verge The latest feature headed to the Google graveyard is continuous scrolling on search results, according to a report from Search Engine Land. The user experience, which mirrored the endless scrolling behavior of social media feeds, was originally introduced for search results on mobile devices in October of 2021 and then brought over to desktop search results in late 2022.
A Google spokesperson reportedly told Search Engine Land that continuous scroll is being removed today

The only thing better than watching the news for free is having all the free news from all channels in one place — and accessible via an app on your phone. With YouTube News livestream, you can watch any live newscast for free, and there’s plenty to choose from. SEE ALSO:YouTube TV: Here's what you need to know
Access the free news livestream on the YouTube app Open the YouTube app on your phone or device Click on the compass symbol directly under the YouTube logo

Nvidia has been riding high thanks to AI, the current center of attention in the tech industry. The chipmaker's silicon is among the only such hardware that can provide the necessary processing power to enable resource-intensive commercial AI models.Because of this, Nvidia has been sort of a bellwether for the AI industry — rising sky high as an indication of AI's extreme rate of growth.Over the past week, however, Nvidia has taken a huge tumble on the stock market, and has lost around $50

SkyCell, based in Switzerland, has closed $116M in a Series D round for its technological solution that improves the pharmaceutical supply chain for air travel. Founded in 2013, the startup manufactures temperature-controlled containers, using proprietary cold chain technology to monitor and optimise functions such as cooling, humidity protection, and shock absorption. The containers also come with a patented insulation system that reflects heat radiation, enabling them to self-charge in cold e

A huge panel becomes an AR projector powered by data from eye tracking sensors in this prototype. | Image: Adi Robertson / The Verge Car infotainment systems are getting ever bigger, but a startup’s new prototype takes things further than even something like Ford’s pillar-to-pillar touchscreen — by turning your windshield into a full-color 3D heads-up display.
Distance Technologies, established by the co-founders of enterprise headset maker Varjo, showed off its design last wee

OpenAI is reportedly planning to block API access in China, and Chinese companies are swooping in to fill the impending void. According to Chinese state-owned newspaper Securities Times (via Reuters), users in China received an email saying they're in a "'region that OpenAI does not currently support' and that additional measures to block API traffic from some regions would be taken starting July 9."SEE ALSO:OpenAI acquires search and analytics startup Rockset. What does that mean?
ChatGPT is no

The return capsule of the Chang’e 6 probe lands at the designated landing area on June 25th, 2024, in Inner Mongolia. | Photo by VCG / VCG via Getty Images The first soil samples ever taken from the far side of the Moon arrived on Earth today. China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft landed with the precious cargo in Inner Mongolia today at 2:07PM Beijing time, according to state media.The feat is expected to help scientists better understand the unfamiliar terrain of the Moon’s far

Photo: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge If you’re waiting to see the Pixel 9, Pixel Watch 3, or other new Google hardware, then August 13th could be a big day for you because look what just hit our inboxes:You’re invited to an in-person Made by Google event where we’ll showcase the best of Google AI, Android software and the Pixel portfolio of devices.Image: Google
The keynote will take place at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, and you can be sure we’ll be there to see what’s new. It&rsqu

Image: Elgato The Elgato Stream Deck XL is once again selling for $199.99 ($50 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo. The jumbo-sized macro pad has 32 customizable LCD keys for controlling various functions on a Windows PC or Mac. It’s a staple among enthusiast and high-level Twitch streamers, but its customizability makes it incredibly handy for all sorts of desktop and laptop users.
Want a button for quickly muting yourself on a Zoom call or to promptly summon Spotify? No problem.

SAVE $44.85: Amazon Prime members can sign up for a free 3-month trial of Audible Premium Plus, which usually costs $14.95 per month.Opens in a new windowCredit: Audible3-month free trial of Audible Premium Plus at Amazon Prime member exclusiveGet DealAudiobooks and podcasts have become a way of life for some of us. People might assume we're rocking out to classic rock or synth pop with our earbuds, but in reality we're following along with an audiobook we simply cannot stop listening to. If you

Blokus, Tumblin’ Monkeys, and UNO are just three of the games Mattel is making colorblind accessible. | Image: Mattel In an effort to make its games accessible to a wider audience and “create more inclusive play experiences,” Mattel has announced that 80 percent of its gaming portfolio — including iconic titles like UNO — will be made accessible for those with a color vision deficiency by the end of the year, with a push to 90 percent by the end of 2025.
For UNO and

Dr Disrespect, a popular streamer, has been booted from his gaming studio after disturbing allegations surfaced about an apparent text conversation he had with a minor. The video game streamer, whose real name is Herschel "Guy" Beahm, was unceremoniously kicked off Twitch four years ago. The public was unsure why. Now, reports suggest it was due to an inappropriate texting relationship with a minor. An anonymous former employee on Twitch's trust and safety team told The Verge that Beahm messaged

While Stability AI’s latest image-generating model, Stable Diffusion 3, may have been a success, things behind the scenes at the company have been slightly more turbulent. However, with today’s funding announcement, it seems the immediate financial woes may be over for the time being. Following the departure of founder and CEO Emad Mostaque in March after allegations of mismanagement and what Fortune termed an “investor mutiny,” sources close to the company reported last

Preview of the best robot vacuum deals at AmazonBest budget dealiRobot Roomba j7299.99(599.99)Get DealBest self-emptying mopping dealEufy X9 Pro$449.99(save $450 at Amazon with code X9PROEUFY)Get Deal
After Walmart could barely scrounge up a noteworthy robot vacuum deal for Walmart+ Week, we're banking on Amazon even harder to go off on robot vacuum deals for Prime Day.We're in good hands, though. Overall, Amazon is already generally the best place to score a robot vacuum on sale at any point du

Amazon is giving away free video games as part of this year's Prime Day event. Be sure to claim yours. Opens in a new windowCredit: AmazonAmazon Prime free gamesGet DealAmazon Prime Day is coming up, and you'll be able to shop hundreds of deals when the event launches on July 16. But you don't have to spend a dime to scoop up some great games by way of Prime Gaming. While you can already get a rotating selection of free games from Amazon each month, there will be a few more to sweeten the deal j

Illustration: The Verge Threads will now let people like and see replies to their Threads posts that appear on other federated social media platforms, the company announced on Monday.
Previously, if you made a post on Threads that was syndicated to another platform — like Mastodon, for example — you wouldn’t be able to see responses to that post while still inside Threads. That meant you’d have to bounce back and forth between the platforms to stay up-to-date on replies.

GET $20 IN AMAZON CREDIT: Eligible Prime members can upload and back up a photo for the first time to the Amazon Photos app to receive a free $20 credit to spend during Prime Day on July 16 and 17.Opens in a new windowCredit: Amazon $20 Prime Day promotional creditGet DealYou know that pesky phone alert that tells you it's running low on storage? It almost always includes a recommendation to delete some photos. But how could we possibly delete even a single adorable dog photo? If you're in need

A new way to keep tabs on your luggage. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Motorola’s tracking tag is officially here, and if you’ve wanted an AirTag for your Android phone, this new Moto Tag might be it. This item tracker costs $29 and works with Google’s newly upgraded Find My Device network to help you locate a lost item. In addition to Bluetooth, it also offers ultra wideband, which means that if your phone is equipped with a UWB chip — like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ult

More screen equals more fun. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Foldable season is back, and Motorola is leading the way with refreshed versions of its Razr Plus and Razr flip phones. They’re arriving next month in some poolside-worthy colors, with upgraded screens — a big upgrade in the case of the 2024 Razr — and IPX8 ratings for full resistance against water immersion. And you know what else is pretty hot? The prices haven’t gone up.
The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 still s

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Streaming keeps getting more expensive.The latest example is Paramount+. Reuters reported that the home of Knuckles and various Yellowstone spin-offs is jacking up the prices on all of its plans in the near future. The plans will cost either $1 or $2 more per month, so they aren't huge changes, but it's still enough to be bothersome if you've already grown tired of how much streaming costs.SEE ALSO:The best Netflix movies of 2024 now streaming
Paramount+ price changesThe new prices for each Para

Image: The Verge The archives of the MTV News website, which had remained accessible online after the unit was shut down last year by parent company Paramount Global, have now been completely taken offline. As Variety reported yesterday, both mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news now redirect visitors to the MTV website’s front page.
In May of last year, Showtime / MTV Entertainment Studios president and Paramount Media Networks groups CEO Chris McCarthy announced layoffs for 25 percent of its empl

Photo by Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images The wait(list) is over.Waymo is opening up its robotaxi service to anyone who wants to ride in San Francisco. Previously, customers interested in taking a ride in one of the company’s driverless cars needed to sign up for a waitlist, which could take weeks or months to open up.Waymo began its commercial test service in the city in August 2021 with a rollout to “trusted testers” — preapproved riders, some of whom were asked t

SAVE $49.95: Amazon Prime members can cash in on five months of free access to Amazon Music Unlimited, which typically costs $9.99 per month for Prime members. Non-Prime members can get access to three months for free, saving a total of $32.97.Opens in a new windowCredit: Amazon5 free months of Amazon Music Unlimitedat Amazon with Prime membershipGet DealEnjoying your favorite podcast or rocking out to your newest playlist can only be interrupted by one thing — ads. If these put a damper o

SAVE $119.01: As of June 25, get a new, unlocked iPhone 15 (128 GB) for $679.99 at Woot. That's a discount of 15%. Opens in a new windowCredit: Woot!iPhone 15 (128 GB)$679.99 at Woot $799.99 Save $120.00Get DealIf you want to make sure you nail those summer vacay photos, it may be time to upgrade your smartphone before the big trip. You're in luck, because there's a great deal at Woot that can net you a new iPhone 15 for a low price today.As of June 25, get a new, unlocked iPhone 15 (128 GB) at

House of the Dragon fans: Consider this your reminder to separate the actor from the character. Actor Fabien Frankel experienced the fandom's intense hatred for his character Ser Criston Cole firsthand when people posted harassing comments on his Instagram account. It got so bad that Frankel reportedly had to limit comments on his recent posts. Tweet may have been deletedSEE ALSO:'House of the Dragon': Everything you need to remember about Season 1 in 60 seconds
"The Realm is going to war becaus

Amid tense relations between big tech and the EU, Meta has announced its second AI startup accelerator in Europe. The accelerator targets startups that want to integrate open-source foundation models (such as Llama and Mistral 7B) into their products. To deliver the programme, Meta has once again teamed up with Hugging Face, a US-based open-source platform that hosts machine learning models and tools, and Scaleway, a European cloud provider for AI infrastructure. The initiative will initially s

It is notoriously difficult for startups in life sciences and biotechnology to get investments for lab facilities and equipment to be able spin out from universities.  To that effect, Superlab Suisse operates facilities where biotech startups, scaleups, and their staff can access state-of-the-art equipment according to a “lab as a service” business model. The company today announced the opening of its second space in biotech hub Basel, Switzerland.  The 4,770 square metre

Image: Beats After several months of leaks and public sightings, the Beats Pill speaker has returned. Available to order beginning today for $149.99, this portable Bluetooth speaker looks very similar to past versions, but it now offers IP67 dust and water resistance and USB-C wired audio and supports native software features like Find My / Find My Device across both iOS and Android.The new Pill — available in black, red, or gold — will be in stores as of June 27th. Like many speaker

Imagine the exact middle between an iPhone and a Kindle. That’s the Palma. | Image: Boox There are really only three things you need to know about the Boox Palma. One: it’s about the size of a smartphone. Two: it runs Android, with the Play Store. Three: it has an E Ink screen. There are other specs and features I’ll get to, but that combination — smartphone, Android, E Ink — is the Palma’s whole reason for existence.
In a couple of months of using the Palma,